President Joko Widodo’s European travel itinerary for the next couple of days includes stops in Ukraine and Russia, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said today, confirming that the Indonesian leader is set to embark on a peace-building mission between the warring nations.
In a press conference today, Retno said Jokowi, who is in Germany to attend the G7 summit as an honorary guest, will first head to Ukraine via Poland after the event ends today.
“I have been in intense communication with numerous parties regarding the president’s visits to Ukraine and Russia,” Retno said.
As things stand, Jokowi is scheduled for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on June 29, followed by a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow the next day.
Prior to leaving Indonesia for the G7 summit, Jokowi said he hopes to facilitate a peace dialog between Zelenskiy and Putin, particularly pleading with the latter to order an immediate ceasefire.
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.
Little hope for peace
Speaking to Coconuts from Poland today, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Indonesia Vasyl Hamianin lauded Jokowi’s intention to visit Ukraine, as he would be the first Indonesian leader to ever do so and the first Asian leader to visit the country since the invasion began.
However, Hamianin says he is under no illusions that peace between Ukraine and Russia would be achieved thanks to Jokowi, as he has no faith that Putin would ever see reason.
“Peace-building is an abstract,” Hamianin said.
“My hope is that Indonesia will understand who is Putin, what is Russia, and perhaps change the attitude towards this aggression. If they understand that Russia is the terrorist state, then maybe there will be more serious direct measures taken by Indonesia towards Russia.
“Until now, we can see very clearly that Russia is not capable of negotiations for peace, and Russia is not capable of promising anything. So the only way to deal with Russia is to suppress it to the point that Russia will not be able to carry out its aggression.”
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include the statement by Vasyl Hamianin
