EAM Jaishankar to visit Russia next week

External affairs minister S Jaishankar will make an official visit to Russia next week as part of New Delhi's efforts to widen strategic partnership with the resource-rich nation in critical economic sectors, according to officials.

Observers said this is significant in the backdrop of the planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, which they said could yield a ceasefire deal in the Russia-Ukraine war and a possible easing of the additional 25% tariff that the US has imposed on Indian goods because of New Delhi's decision to continue importing oil from Russia. Trump sees India's oil trade with Moscow as "funding" Russia's war efforts.

Jaishankar is expected to meet Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on August 21, and the outcome of the Trump-Putin meeting is expected to figure in their talks, people in the know told ET. Besides Moscow, Jaishankar may also visit the resource-rich Arctic region.