Russian ambassador to Sri Lanka Alexander Karchava said his country will support Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meeting starting on February 25.
Russia, China and Cuba, who voted for Sri Lanka last year are not voting members of the UNHRC this year.
The ambassador said Russia is lobbying other nations on the UNHRC to vote for Sri Lanka.
The United States said they will present a resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC meeting.
The European Union said they are supporting the U.S. resolution.
Current voting members of the UNHRC are Angola, Argentina, Austria, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Gabon, Germany, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Montenegro, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Sierra Leone, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States of America and Venezuela.
Ten of the current voting members voted for Sri Lanka last year (Congo, Ecuador, Indonesia, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritania, Philippines, Qatar, Thailand, Uganda).
Sixteen of the current voting members voted against Sri Lanka last year (Austria, Benin, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Guatemala, India, Italy, Libya, Peru, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, United States of America).
