On March 21, 2019 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation H.E. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka and Madame Sanja Jayatilleka had a discussion over coffee with Prof. Alexander Filippov, a renowned sociologist and a thinker, who holds a Doctoral Degree in Theory, History and Methods of Sociology, and PhD in History of Philosophy. The meeting was held at the Restaurant of the Russian Geographical Society, established in 1845.

Prof. Filippov is a Member of the Academic Council, a Full Professor with National Research University–Higher School of Economics (HSE) and Head of the Center of Fundamental Social Science of the Poletayev Institute of Humanitarian Historical and Theoretical Studies. He is the author of more than 150 publications, including widely quoted monograph 'Sociology of Space'.
Ambassador Jayatilleka and Prof. Filippov who discovered many areas of common interests had a lengthy discussion on politics, sociology, philosophy, issues of legitimacy and approaches to the world order. Prof. Filippov shared his critical thoughts on the basis of Niklas Luhmann's theory of society and philosophy of social science.
Prof. Filippov mentioned that he had read H.E. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka's book entitled 'The Fall of Global Socialism' and expressed his opinion that it should be translated into Russian. Being the Editor-in-Chief of the 'Russian Sociological Review' academic quarterly journal, Prof. Filippov invited Ambassador Jayatilleka to submit an article, which he said would be a significant contribution to the journal.