Putin urged to help Lanka import fuel

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s president said he urged Russian leader Vladimir Putin to help his island nation import fuel as it faces its worst economic crisis in seven decades, Reuters reported.

“Had a very productive telecon with the #Russia President, Vladimir Putin,” President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said in a tweet, adding that he had requested credit support from Russia to import fuel.

With its petrol and diesel stocks nearly exhausted, Sri Lanka has extended a countrywide school shutdown and asked public employees to work from home.

Sri Lanka has already bought oil from Russia to tide it over the crisis, and the government has indicated it is willing to make further purchases.