Amid strained Indo-US ties EAM Jaishankar expected to visit Russia next week

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is expected to visit Russia next week with an aim to discuss various aspects of the bilateral relations, especially in areas of trade, energy, defence and connectivity, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

In Moscow, Jaishankar is scheduled to hold extensive deliberations with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

It is expected that the Russian side would update the external affairs minister about the Ukraine conflict and issues relating to it.

It is learnt that Jaishankar's visit may begin around December 25. There has been no official word on it yet.

Jaishankar's visit comes as it has become clear that the annual India-Russia leaders' summit would not take place this year too.

The summit between the prime minister of India and the Russian president is the highest institutional dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between the two sides.

So far, 21 annual summits have taken place alternatively in India and Russia. The last summit had taken place in New Delhi in December, 2021.

During Jaishankar's visit, the two sides are also expected to delve into the long-pending proposal of carrying out bilateral trade in the national currencies.

In an address at an event on December 4, Jaishankar said India has a 60-year close engagement with Russia and it is not correct to interpret as if there is some handicap that New Delhi has by having the relationship.

His comments at a technology conclave came against the backdrop of increasing disquiet among the Western powers over the strong India-Russia ties notwithstanding the war in Ukraine.

'We have a relationship with Russia and it is not a relationship that happened in an instant. It is a relationship of close to 60 years,' he had said.

The ties between India and Russia remained strong notwithstanding Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

India's import of Russian crude oil has gone up significantly despite increasing disquiet over it in many Western countries.

India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.