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Wednesday, 2 December 2015 00:29 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
President of Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has promised to comprehensively expand the bilateral cooperation with Sri Lanka and promote the friendly ties betwe
President Putin has given this assurance to the newly appointed Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Russian Federation Dr. Saman Weerasinghe when he presented his credentials to the President.
Dr. Weerasinghe presented his credentials to the Russian President on Thursday, 26th November in the Alexandrovsky Hall of the Great Kremlin Palace in Moscow. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov was also present at the Ceremony.
At the occasion the Sri Lankan envoy extended the greetings of the Sri Lankan President, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister to the Russian President.
The Ambassador briefed President Putin on the latest developments in Sri Lanka following the Presidential and the General Elections in January and August 2015, respectively. He expressed Sri Lanka’s appreciation for the steadfast support that the Russian Federation has always extended to Sri Lanka and stated that Sri Lanka would like to further enhance the existing close and friendly relations with the Russian Federation. The need to expand the bilateral trade relations, for which there is much scope, was stressed. Ambassador Dr. Weerasinghe also indicated the need for exchanging high level visits between the two countries.
In his remarks, President Putin said that recently Russia has managed to reinforce the legal foundation of relations with Sri Lanka, which will lay the groundwork for developing comprehensively Russia’s bilateral cooperation with Sri Lanka. He also noted that Russia’s traditional contacts with Sri Lanka in the fields of fishing and agriculture were expanding.
Ambassador Dr. Saman Weerasinghe is a past pupil of Mahinda College, Galle. He is a graduate of the First Moscow State Medical University named after I.M. Sechenov. In 2012, he was awarded the prestigious Order of Honor of the Russian Federation by the President of the Russian Federation, in recognition of his contribution to develop and strengthen economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation between Sri Lanka and Russia during the past 30 years.
A high powered four member delegation led by Russian Parliament’s Deputy Chairman of Council of Federation (Senate) Iliyas Umakhanov is currently in Sri Lanka on a two day official visit, and met with Minister of Plantation Industries Navin Dissanayake yesterday afternoon at the Ministry of Plantation Industries. 
Umakhanov and Minister Dissanayake discussed potential assistance towards Sri Lanka’s tea plantations and related promotional activities.
Vice Chairman Umakhanov invited Minister Navin Dissanayake to the Tourism Festival, scheduled to be held in February 2016, in Russia.
Other members of the delegation, Russian Federation of Sri Lanka and Maldives Ambassador Alexander A Karchava and Sri Lanka Tea Board Chairman Rohan Pethiyagoda also participated in the discussions.
