Russia–Sri Lanka relations

Russia–Sri Lanka relations (Российско-ланкийские отношения, රුසියා-ශ්‍රී ලංකා සබඳතා, ரஷ்யா-இலங்கை உறவுகள்) are the bilateral relations between Russia and Sri Lanka.

Soviet-era relations
The Soviet Union established diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka on December 3–6, 1956. In 1958, the USSR and Sri Lanka signed an agreement on economic and technical cooperation. In 1967, they built a steel mill (production capacity - 50,000 tons of stock per year), a tire plant, and a construction materials plant near Colombo all with the assistance of the Soviet Union.

Political ties
In the UN, Russia has supported Sri Lanka in nearly every resolution brought forward against them. The most notable one was during the final stages of Sri Lanka's civil war in 2009 when European nations along with Canada and Mexico brought a ceasefire bill against the Sri Lanka Army. However, China and Russia vetoed that bill. Later on, another war crime bill that was tabled by Western nations against the Government of Sri Lanka was once again vetoed by Russia and China, along with several other nations.

Sri Lanka reacted in favor of Russia during the Ukrainian crisis, and said that the concerns of Russia were justifiable.

In 2022, Sri Lanka abstained from both Resolution ES-11/1 and Resolution ES-11/4 UN votes on Russia.

Military ties
Russia helped Sri Lanka to obtain Russian based weapons from several countries throughout the past 30 years. Examples of this would be Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-27, Mil Mi-17 used by Sri Lanka Air Force and T-54/55 battle tanks, BTR-80 APC used by Sri Lanka Army.

In 2017, Sri Lanka ordered Gepard-class frigate worth US$158.5 million for the Sri Lanka Navy.

Economic ties
Sri Lanka and Russia have recently ramped up cooperation on expanding the tea trade between the two nations. Currently, approximately 17 percent of Sri Lanka's tea exports go to Russia. Sri Lankan teas account for 30% of Russia's tea market. In 2016, there were 58,176 Russian tourist arrived in Sri Lanka. This number is gradually increasing in recent years.

In December 2017 Russia imposed a temporary restriction on the imports of agriculture products from Sri Lanka including Ceylon tea after an insect called the Khapra beetle was found in a consignment of tea. Later, however, it was revealed that the beetle is neither native to, nor lives in, Sri Lanka. Russia accounts for nearly 19 percent of Sri Lanka's $1.27 billion tea exports. After discussion with official delegation from the Sri Lanka Tea Board, Russia agreed to lift the restrictions from Dec 30. Sri Lanka also lifted a ban on asbestos, mainly imported from Russia. It was suspected Russia was not happy with the pro-Western policy of the UNP led Sri Lankan Government.

Diplomatic missions

 * Embassy of Russia in Colombo
 * Embassy of Sri Lanka in Moscow