Rajapaksa leaves for Russia

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 February 2010, 10:15 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa left on a three day official visit to Russia Saturday. Mr. Rajapaksa is scheduled to meet his counterpart President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday and is expected to sign an agreement with him, enabling Sri Lanka to receive a USD 300 million loan to buy arms and dual use of equipment from Russia, presidential secretariat sources said.

Rajapaksa will also attend the golden jubilee celebrations of his alma mater - Peoples Friendship University of Russia, also known as Patrice Lumumba Friendship University.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Sri Lanka last October and assured military assistance and had offered military assistance to Rajapaksa regime.