Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said his country may have to buy more oil from Russia at a time when the island nation is desperately looking for fuel amid an unprecedented economic crisis, explaining that he would first look for sources Others but he will be open to buying more crude oil from Moscow.”

And in an extended interview with The Associated Press, he indicated that he was “ready to accept additional financial assistance from China, despite the growing debts of his country,” noting that “the war in Ukraine is exacerbating the situation, and severe food shortages can cause this to last until 2024”.

Wickremesinghe, who was appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to deal with an economic crisis that nearly wiped out the country’s foreign exchange reserves, was sworn in after days of violent protests last month that forced his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa, the president’s brother, to step down and seek safety from an angry mob at a naval base.