External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar departs for Eastern and Central Europe on Wednesday night to assess the Ukraine war on the ground and its regional ramifications, as the European Union has partially blocked Russian oil imports after considerable wrangling. The EU plans to decrease Russian oil imports by 90% by the end of 2022.

EAM Jaishankar is expected to visit Bratislava, Slovakia, and Prague, Czech Republic, where he served as Indian ambassador two decades ago, among other countries in the region, to thank East and Central European countries for Operation Ganga and get a first-hand assessment of the fallout from the Ukraine war. The Modi government evacuated about 23,000 Indian people as part of Operation Ganga.