President Joko Widodo has officially begun his peace-building mission in Ukraine and Russia, arriving in Kyiv this morning.
A press release from the Presidential Secretariat said that Jokowi, along with First Lady Iriana, disembarked at the city’s central railway hub at 8:50am local time after an 11-hour train trip from Przemyśl, Poland. The party traveled on a special train that previously brought other world leaders to the Ukrainian capital during the invasion for security reasons.
Jokowi shared footage of his trip to Ukraine from Poland this morning.
The president is due for a morning trip around the city to witness the devastation the invasion has brought to Ukraine, before meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the Mariinskyi Palace, his official ceremonial residence.
President Jokowi and Lady Iriana are set to head back to Poland by train this afternoon. They are expected to make the second leg of their peace-building trip to Russia, to meet with President Vladimir Putin, tomorrow.
Indonesia is the chair of the G20 intergovernmental forum for the first time this year. The country found itself between a rock and a hard place when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February, with western G20 members threatening to boycott the summit in Bali at the end of the year if Putin weren’t excluded from the event.
Russian officials have confirmed on numerous occasions that Putin will attend the G20 summit.
Indonesia, stressing its commitment to peace-building, has also extended an invitation to non-G20 member Ukraine, to which Zelenskiy said he will attend virtually.
Related — President Jokowi set for Ukraine, Russia peace-building trips in coming days: minister
