Sri Lanka's energy minister, Kanchana Wijesekera, said on Tuesday his country had been buying Russian oil through trading companies in Dubai and Singapore, but not yet directly from Russia.

"We have requested the Russian government for assistance for energy security for Sri Lanka. We have had positive responses but so far no direct supplies,” he told reporters on the sidelines of ADIPEC in Abu Dhabi.

He said trading partners have been supplying Russian crude oil. (Reporting by Rachna Uppal, Writing by Yasmin Hussein)