December 17, 2019 marked the farewell reception, hosted by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation, who will be completing his tenure in mid-January 2020.
The reception gathered many officials of the Russian government, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, as well as senior scholars from universities and research institutes, Ambassadors and members of the Sri Lanka-Russia Friendship Society. The event was notably attended by H. E. Eleonora Mitrofanova, Head of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Cultural Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo).

At the event the key milestones of the service of H. E. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka in Moscow were highlighted, namely, his publications in a number of specialized international policy journals and websites in Moscow, and lectures, Ambassador Jayatilleka was invited to deliver at almost all prominent think tanks, and educational institutions, including the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, MGIMO University, Higher School of Economics, RUDN University, Lomonosov Moscow State University, and at the events, such as the Primakov Readings and the Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS).
While addressing the guests of the reception, Ambassador Jayatilleka said that during his tenure as Sri Lanka's envoy to Russia, he tried to understand the way the modern world order is seen by Russia and to introduce a new perspective into the conversation on international policy from a Sri Lankan vantage point. H. E. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka noted the rich experience he and his spouse Madame Sanja Jayatilleka gained while serving in Moscow, which left a strongly positive impression, and their interactions with Russia, intellectual, political and spiritual, which had a deep transformational impact on them.
Upon the conclusion of the official part of the reception a musical performance was delivered by a Russian jazz singer Ms. Ksenia Devi and her band, while the guests were invited to enjoy the buffet with the culinary fusion of traditional Asian and European cuisine.

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Ambassador Jayatilleka and Mrs. Sanja Jayatilleka with H. E. Eleonora Mitrofanova, Head of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Cultural Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo)

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Ambassador Jayatilleka and Mrs. Sanja Jayatilleka with Ambassador of Palestine H. E. Abdel Hafiz Nofal

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Ambassador Jayatilleka and Mrs. Sanja Jayatilleka with staff members of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Moscow

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