External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will pay a five-day visit to Russia beginning Monday with an aim to discuss various bilateral and global issues.

Jaishankar will travel to Moscow as well as St. Petersburg, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Sunday, announcing the trip.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Russia from December 25 to 29 as a part of the ongoing high-level exchanges between the two sides, it said.

"The time-tested India-Russia partnership has remained stable and resilient and continues to be characterized by the spirit of the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership," it said.

The MEA said the external affairs minister will meet Russia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov to discuss matters related to economic engagement.

Jaishankar will also hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov for discussion on bilateral, multilateral and international issues, it added.

" Focusing on the strong people-to-people and cultural ties between our two countries, the external affairs minister's programme will include engagements in Moscow and in St. Petersburg," the MEA said.

It is learnt that the two sides are expected to discuss various aspects of the bilateral relations, especially in areas of trade, energy, defence and connectivity.

Jaishankar's visit comes as it has become clear that the annual India-Russia leaders' summit will 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 took place in New Delhi in December 2021 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.

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