Colombo, June 13 (Agency) Western sanctions or no sanctions, Sri Lanka may be forced to buy oil from Russia if the fuel crisis continues to persist in the island nation. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the foreign media here that Colombo may be compelled to buy more oil from Russia to deal with the present fuel shortages. He said he would first look for other sources, but would be open to buying more crude from Russia. Wickremesingh said Sri Lanka desperately needed fuel and was currently trying to get oil and coal from the country’s traditional suppliers in the Middle East. “If we can get from any other sources, we will get from there.
Otherwise (we) may have to go to Russia again,” the Island newspaper quoted him as saying. Acknowledging that Sri Lanka’s current predicament was of “its own making,” Wickremesinghe said he felt terrible watching his nation suffer. He said he hadn’t ever seen anything like this in Sri Lanka — and didn’t think he ever would.“I have generally been in governments where I ensured people had three meals and their income increased,” he said. “We’ve had difficult times. … But not like this. I have not seen … people without fuel, without food.”