Blinken urges Sri Lanka to ‘work quickly’ to address crisis

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on
Sunday urged Sri Lanka’s leaders to quickly find long-term solutions to the
nation’s economic and political crisis, and suggested Russia’s blockade on
Ukrainian grain may have contributed to the turmoil.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said on Saturday that he would step
down after protesters stormed his residence following months of unrest over
severe shortages of food and fuel.

“We would urge the Sri Lankan parliament to approach this with a commitment
to the betterment of the country, not any one political party,” Blinken said of
the upcoming exit of Rajapaksa, who had a rocky relationship with the United
States.

“It’s incumbent on the government — whether it’s a new constitutionally
selected government or existing government — to work quickly to try to
identify and implement solutions that will bring back the prospect of long-term
economic stability,” Blinken told reporters during a visit to Bangkok.

Such solutions must address “people’s discontent, which is so powerful and
palpable over the worsening economic conditions,” he said.

He warned against attacks on protesters or journalists, saying Sri Lankans
have “a right to protest, to peacefully raise their voices”.

“At the same time, we call for a full investigation, arrest and prosecution
of anyone involved in any protest-related violence,” he added.

The top US diplomat also renewed his call for Russia to let an estimated 20
million tonnes of grain leave Ukraine, where it has been stuck after Moscow
invaded the major exporter in February.

“We’re seeing the impact of this Russian aggression playing out everywhere.
It may have contributed to the situation in Sri Lanka; we’re concerned about
the implications around the world,” Blinken said.

Russia says it will allow Ukrainian ships loaded with food products to
leave if Ukraine’s military demines its ports, an option rejected by Kyiv,
which fears for the safety of its Black Sea coast.

In the past, Rajapaksa had irritated the United States with his dismissal
of allegations of war crimes in the bloody finale of Sri Lanka’s decades-long
civil war and his close economic partnership with China.

Both the United States and China have offered in recent weeks to support
the once-prosperous island.