On January 16, 2019, the revived Russia-Sri Lanka Friendship Society (RSLFS), which was founded back in 1959, invited H. E. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka and Madame Sanja Jayatilleka to a meeting, which was held in the office of the Russian Association for International Cooperation (RAIC) at the Federation Council of the Russian Federation. The meeting was attended by cosmonaut Valeriy Tokarev, the President of the Friendship Society with Sri Lanka; Mr. Vladimir Polozkov, Deputy Chairman of RSLFS Board and RAIC General Secretary; H. E. Dr. Mikhail Konarovsky, RSLFS Board member and former Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Afghanistan; Ms. Marina Korosteleva, RSLFS Board member and Deputy Secretary General of RAIC; and Ms. Elizaveta Stupanskaya, Executive Secretary of RSLFS.

The 10th Gaidar Forum 2019, which has been held since 2010 in memory of Yegor Gaidar, leading Russian economist and ideologue of the reforms of the early 1990s, gathered the record number of 17 thousand experts, famous scientists, public and political figures, and foreign diplomats at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration in Moscow.

On January 16, 2019 Ambassador Jayatilleka paid a courtesy call on his Malaysian counterpart, H.E. Datuk Mat Dris Haji Yaacob.
Ambassador of Malaysia underlined very close historically established relations with Sri Lanka. Ambassador Jayatilleka recollected his colleague, the Malaysian PR at the UN in Geneva, who was an expert on Asian issues and a dynamic Ambassador at the Human Rights Council.

On January 15, 2019 Ambassador Jayatilleka paid a courtesy call to the Ambassador of Lebanon to the Russian Federation, H.E. Chawki Bou Nassar.

The Heads of Mission shared their views on complicated core issues of the Middle East region. They had a long political discussion on the Palestinian Issue, the Arab Spring, Israel-Arab relations, and double standards on Human Rights. “Ignoring the reality doesn’t mean the issue doesn’t exist” said the Lebanese Ambassador. He pointed out that Lebanon and Syria are linked historically and geographically, thus issues in Syria strongly affect Lebanon’s wellbeing. Lebanon has always enjoyed a wide margin of democracy, but is facing economic problems.  

On January 14, 2019 Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Russia, H.E. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka paid a courtesy call to his Syrian counterpart, H.E. Dr. Riad Haddad. The Syrian Ambassador graduated from the Lenin Military Political Academy in Moscow, received a degree of Doctor in Political Science and served as Head of the Political Directorate of the Syrian Armed Forces before he assumed his duties as Head of the Syrian Mission in Russia.

On January 11, 2019 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation, H.E. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka had a meeting with his Uzbekistan counterpart, H.E. Asadov Botirzhon Zakirovich, at the invitation of the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Moscow. Ambassador Jayatilleka is concurrently accredited to the Republic of Uzbekistan.