COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry said Tuesday it had received assurances from Russia that it would stop recruiting the island nation’s citizens to fight in Ukraine following allegations thousands had been duped into combat roles.
Relatives have urged Colombo to bring back the Sri Lankans, mostly retired soldiers, at least 16 of whom have been reported killed and 37 wounded in the fighting, according to parliament, with around a dozen others reportedly held as prisoners of war in Ukraine.
Sri Lankan foreign minister Ali Sabry raised the issue with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the BRICS ministerial meeting in Moscow on Monday, the ministry said.
“At the request of minister Ali Sabry, it was also agreed that no further recruitment from Sri Lanka will be done,” the ministry said.
Moscow will accept a delegation from Sri Lanka on June 26 to “review these issues in detail and take suitable action to arrest the situation,” the ministry statement said.
Thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine since the invasion began more than two years ago, and Moscow has been on a global quest for more troops.
Sri Lanka says many of its nationals had been duped into believing they would receive high salaries, land and the right to settle in Russia in return for serving in non-combat roles, but ended up being sent to the front.
Police in the island nation have arrested two retired generals for illegally acting as recruiting agents for Russian mercenary firms.
Soldiers from Sri Lanka’s neighbors India and Nepal have also joined the fight, with several confirmed deaths.
Sri Lanka says Russia to stop recruiting fighters from the island
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Sri Lanka says Russia to stop recruiting fighters from the island
- Moscow will accept a delegation from Sri Lanka on June 26 to “review these issues in detail
Changes to US security strategy ‘largely consistent’ with Russia’s vision: Kremlin
- Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the current US administration was “fundamentally different from the previous ones”
MOSCOW: Russia has welcomed changes in the US National Security Strategy, saying the adjustments that marked a radical departure from Washington’s previous policy were “largely consistent” with Moscow’s vision.
Washington’s new National Security Strategy, published early Friday, took aim at allies in Europe, calling it over-regulated, lacking in “self-confidence” and facing “civilizational erasure” due to immigration.
The document stated that the United States would also prevent other powers from dominating but added: “This does not mean wasting blood and treasure to curtail the influence of all the world’s great and middle powers.”
Commenting on the new US strategy, the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the current US administration was “fundamentally different from the previous ones.”
“The adjustments we’re seeing, I would say, are largely consistent with our vision,” Peskov said in an interview with state TV station Rossiya aired Sunday.
“President Trump is currently strong in terms of domestic political positions. And this gives him the opportunity to adjust the concept to suit his vision,” Peskov added.
The publication of the updated security strategy came as officials from Kyiv held talks in Florida with Trump’s envoys on the US-drafted plan to end the near four-year war in Ukraine.
Three days of talks produced no apparent breakthrough.
President Volodymyr Zelensky committed to further negotiations toward “real peace,” as Russia in the early hours of Saturday launched another series of drone and missile strikes at Ukraine.
Zelensky is due to meet with European leaders — French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz — in London on Monday to take stock of the negotiations.
