MOSCOW. Oct 25 (Interfax) - Russian Ground Forces Commander Oleg Salyukov has discussed the prospects for cooperation with acting Chief of Defense Staff and Commander of the Sri Lanka Army Shavendra Silva.
"At a working meeting in Moscow, the military commanders discussed cooperation between the ground forces of both countries, the training of servicemen and officers from Sri Lanka at higher educational establishments of the Russian Defense Ministry, joint exercises, and the participation of Sri Lankan servicemen in the Army international games," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
A Sri Lankan delegation plans to visit the Moscow Higher Military Command School, the Mikhailovskaya Military Artillery Academy, and the Kantemirovskaya Tank Division of the Western Military District, the statement said.
In September 2018, Russia and Sri Lanka signed an intergovernmental agreement on military cooperation. In recent years, Moscow has seen an increasing scope of military and military-technical cooperation with Sri Lanka.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in January 2020 that Russia would continue to supply weapons to Sri Lanka.
"Russia has supplied and is ready to continue the delivery of the weapons that the Sri Lanka Army needs to maintain its defense capacity and provide security," Lavrov said at the time.
The Kommersant newspaper reported in 2020, citing a diplomatic source, that Moscow was ready to give Colombo a loan of about $500 million for purchasing six Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets and a batch of BTR-82A armored personnel carriers.
Head of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev said on September 4 that Russia had presented drafts of two more arms contracts to Sri Lanka in April 2021.
"We presented drafts of two contracts for the delivery of military products to Sri Lanka via diplomatic channels in April 2021. They apply to BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, BREM-K armored recovery vehicles, and Mil Mi-171Sh military transport helicopters," Shugayev told reporters.
The Sri Lankan Defense Ministry is considering Moscow's offers, Shugayev said. "We are waiting for a response from our partners," he said.