Sri Lanka is negotiating with Russia the purchase of a new batch of Russian Mi-17 helicopters, which the country will use in UN peacekeeping missions, Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia Dayan Jayatilleka had told Sputnik News on Sunday, international reports noted recently.

"There is a commission that discusses the purchase of Mi-17 helicopters," Jayatilleka had told reporters, specifying that the Sri Lanka was going to purchase the helicopters for taking part in UN peacekeeping missions. According to the report the ambassador Jayatilleka had recalled that Mi-17s were on the agenda of a Sri Lankan senior Defence officials' visit to Moscow in early September 2018.

Report said that while negotiations are underway, no specific document has been signed yet, and the number of helicopters that Sri Lanka is going to purchase has not been defined, quoting ambassador Jayatilleka specified. According to the report Sri Lanka has been purchasing Mi-17 helicopters since the early 1990s.