State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya says former Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga will not be a part of the official delegation visiting Russia next week to discuss repatriating Sri Lankan nationals from the country.
Responding to questions on controversial statements made by the former Ambassador, the State Minister said that the government has not engaged with Weereatunga in this matter.
“The Foreign Ministry cannot be wasting time correcting statements by certain individuals who want media attention,” he said.
Asked if the Ministry was concerned that a representative of the Sri Lankan government for almost a decade was making controversial statements, the State Minister of Foreign Affairs said that these statements carry no weight.
“It is very unfortunate that he was an ambassador for a decade. I’ll be very upfront with it. He has been making many statements, not only pertaining to the issue in Lanka but also related to various other matters,” Balasuriya said.
The State Minister clarified that his statement about a former ambassador accompanying the Sri Lankan delegation to Russia was misreported by the media, stating that the former ambassador in question was Udayanga Weeratunga.
“It is very unfortunate that the press reports something to that effect. “Everybody started thinking that Udayanga is going to Russia, which is not the case,” he said.
The Minister said that there has been no engagement with the former ambassador and stressed that the government will not engage with Weeratunga in the future.
