OREANDA-NEWS "Had a very productive telecon with the #Russia President, Vladimir Putin. While thanking him for all the support extended by his gvt to overcome the challenges of the past, I requested an offer of credit support to import fuel to #lka in defeating the current econ challenges," Rajapaksa tweeted.He noted that he "umbly made A request to restart @Aeroflot_World operations in #lka."Aeroflot suspended flights to Colombo shortly after the June 2 seizure of an Airbus A330-300 aircraft. The Russian Foreign Ministry protested to the ambassador of Sri Lanka in connection with this incident.

As noted by the Sri Lankan company Airport and Aviation Services Ltd, which is the second defendant in this case, the court of Sri Lanka noted the purely commercial nature of the dispute between Aeroflot and the Irish Celestial Aviation Trading 10 Limited, which should be resolved between the two parties without the participation of states.Four days after the aircraft was seized, a Sri Lankan court suspended the order prohibiting the Aeroflot aircraft from leaving the country. Shortly thereafter, the Aeroflot plane flew to Moscow with crew members. Last week, Sri Lanka's Attorney General asked the Colombo High Commercial Court to drop a case filed against a plane belonging to Aeroflot.Sri Lanka is experiencing its worst economic crisis since the country gained independence in 1948. The crisis is caused by a shortage of foreign exchange resulting from decrease of the tourist flow due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions, as a result of which the country cannot buy enough fuel. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the island's tourism sector, a key source of foreign exchange, and remittances from Sri Lankans working abroad have also declined. There is an acute shortage of food and basic necessities, fuel and gas in the country. Many parts of Sri Lanka are facing constant power outages due to lack of foreign exchange to import fuel.