Modi to speak to Putin on evacuation of Indian students

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday following his phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Moscow's war on Kiev entered the 12th day, government sources said here.

According to the sources, Modi is likely to seek the Russian President's support for a safe passage to evacuate Indian nationals, mostly students, currently stranded in the Ukrainian cities of Sumy, Odessa, Kharkiv and Mariupol.

This will be Modi's second interaction with the two Presidents since the war began on February 24.

The Prime Minister had spoken to Zelensky for the first time on February 26 and with Putin on the evening of March 3.

Meanwhile, India has continued sending relief material to the war-torn nation as part of humanitarian assistance via Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft which are deployed for the evacuations of stranded Indians.

On March 2 however, India had again abstained from a vote on Ukraine at the UN General Assembly "in view the totality of the evolving situation".

This was the fourth abstention by New Delhi on a vote on the Ukraine issue at the UN -- the other three at the Security Council where India is an elected member.