Jaishankar to visit Russia on Nov 7, 8

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will pay a two-day visit to Russia beginning November 7 during which he will hold wide-ranging talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced Jaishankar's visit on Thursday.

During visit to Moscow, Jaishankar will hold talks with Lavrov focusing on bilateral, regional and international issues, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing.

The visit is taking place amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

In the last few months, India has increased the import of discounted crude oil from Russia notwithstanding increasing disquiet over it by several Western powers.

Jaishankar and Lavrov have already met four times after the Ukraine conflict began in February.

The Russian foreign minister visited India in April during which he held extensive talks with Jaishankar and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India in December last year to attend the India-Russia annual summit.