FINANCIAL CHRONICLE – Sri Lanka has started talks on possibilities of buying Russian oil after the United States eased the sanctions on fuel purchase from Moscow, the island nation’s Foreign Minister’s office said.

The U.S. issued a 30-day waiver for countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products stranded at sea, in a bid to stabilize global energy markets roiled by the Iran war waged by Washington and Israel.

Sri Lanka’s move came at a meeting between Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath and Russian Ambassador Levan S. Dzhagaryan, the Foreign Minister’s office said.

“…as another step to maintain Sri Lanka’s fuel supply, Minister Vijitha Herath discussed the possibility of purchasing Russian fuel with the Russian Ambassador,” the Foreign Minister’s office said in a statement.

The ambassador agreed to immediately inform the Russian government of Sri Lanka’s request. He also promised to coordinate with the relevant institutions and make the necessary arrangements for this.

Sri Lanka’s decision to explore Russian oil comes as the island nation raised the fuel prices as a deterrent to prevent over usage amid limited supply options.

“During the discussion, the Russian Ambassador pointed out that Sri Lanka will receive Russia’s support whenever it needs it.”

Before 2012, Sri Lanka had been mainly relying on Iranian light crude which could be used in its only 57-year-old refinery built by Iran. However, the island nation was forced to stop Iranian crude imports after the 2012 U.S. sanction on Iran oil.

Later, it switched to Murban crude from the UAE and was compelled to increase refined oil imports.

The outbreak of the “Iran War” in late February 2026 has severely impacted global oil trade, with Iran threatening to attack oil shipments from the U.S. or its allies.

Donald Trump, the U.S. President, was able to tap into Venezuelan oil after engineering a dramatic regime change before the Iran attack. (Colombo/March 13/2026)