Ambassador Shobini Gunasekera met with Mr. Leonid Eduardovich Slutsky, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the State Duma (One of the two chambers of the Russian Parliament) for a productive discussion on enhancing bilateral cooperation.

The meeting focused on strengthening parliamentary contacts as an important avenue for advancing mutual understanding and reinforcing the partnership between Sri Lanka and Russia. Both sides emphasized the value of inter-parliamentary dialogue in deepening trust and expanding collaboration across key areas. In this respect, the need to establish contacts with the young parliamentarians between Sri Lanka and Russia were particularly emphasized.

Ambassador Gunasekera also highlighted Sri Lanka's growing appeal as a tourism destination, presenting the country's unique strengths in cultural heritage, authenticity, and diversity of experiences. She also highlighted the importance of strengthened air connectivity in order to sustain the market and requested the Russian side to continue with the charter flight operations to Sri Lanka apart from the regular flights in the winter season by Aeroflot.

Discussions further touched on promoting cultural cooperation to foster stronger people-to-people ties between the two nations. The engagement reaffirmed the shared commitment of Sri Lanka and Russia to advance cooperation at both parliamentary and cultural levels, paving the way for closer ties in the years ahead. Counsellor Mihiravi Dissanayake was also present at the meeting.