Indonesian President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, met with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday in order to “help resolve the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.”
Zelensky expressed his appreciation for Jokowi’s visit to Kyiv, noting that it was “the first visit of the leader of an Asian state to Kyiv since the beginning of the full-scale Russian war.” “We really appreciate it and are thankful to you,” he said. While delivering a press statement with President Zelensky after the meeting, Jokowi said that his visit was “a manifestation of Indonesia’s concern for the situation in Ukraine.”
Indonesian President Joko Widodo visited🇺🇦
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) June 29, 2022
"This is 1st visit of a leader of Asian state to Kyiv since full-scale Russian war. Thank you," Zelensky said.
He thanked for invitation to G20 summit adding "Ukraine's participation will depend on security situation & participants" pic.twitter.com/NGY8EzTdRF
Jokowi highlighted Ukraine’s importance in the global food supply chain and said that all efforts must be made to end the war so that Ukraine can begin exporting food. “It is important for all parties to provide security guarantees for the smooth export of Ukrainian food, including through sea ports. I support the efforts of the United Nations in this regard,” he said.
The Ukranian leader accused Russia of “blackmailing the world with hunger.” “It blocked the supply of food from Ukraine, which played a stabilising role for the world market. Tens of millions of tons of grain from Ukraine should reach consumers, in particular the people of Indonesia,” Zelensky stressed.
Arrived in Kyiv (29/06) and straight to a meeting with FM @DymitroKuleba to discuss final preparations for talks between President @Jokowi and President Zelensky pic.twitter.com/0FmC7f1up6
— Menteri Luar Negeri Republik Indonesia (@Menlu_RI) June 30, 2022
Referring to Indonesia’s current presidency of the Group of 20 (G20), Zelensky noted that Jokowi was “representing in Kyiv both the Group of Twenty” as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is “one of the most powerful associations in the world” and which Indonesia “will chair next year.”
Jokowi invited Zelensky to participate in the upcoming G20 summit, which will be held in November this year in Bali. The Ukranian leader accepted and thanked Jokowi for the invitation and said his country’s participation “will depend on the security situation in the country and on the composition of participants.” Zelensky also noted that “The facilitation of the chairman and member of the G20 is extremely important for the restoration of peace.”
The President of Indonesia delivered a message from Zelensky to Putin
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 30, 2022
President of #Indonesia Joko Widodo did not disclose content of the message. He also said that in his conversation with Putin he expressed his readiness to help start "communication" between two presidents. pic.twitter.com/rf8JYT4ho0
Additionally, Jokowi offered “to carry a message from President Zelensky to President Putin,” whom he visited the next day. No further details about the message were made public.
In the joint press conference after their meeting, Putin emphasised that Indonesia is one of Russia’s “key partners in the Asia-Pacific region.” He said that his talks with Jokowi “were held in a businesslike manner and were very substantive.”
Addressing concerns about food security, Putin said that “the imbalance of food markets is a direct consequence of many years of irresponsible macroeconomic policies in a number of countries, uncontrolled emission and accumulation of unsecured debts. And the situation worsened with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.”
He further slammed “Western countries” by saying that they are “unwilling to admit the fallacy of their economic course” and have further destabilised “global agricultural production by imposing restrictions on the supply of Russian and Belarusian fertilisers, making it difficult for Russian grain to be exported to world markets, complicating the insurance of bulk carriers transporting grain and making bank payments under trade contracts.”
Putin also hailed the increase in bilateral trade between Russia and Indonesia and called for the establishment of a free trade zone between Indonesia and the Eurasian Economic Union. He also spoke about the need for greater diplomatic engagement, noting that Jokowi recently participated in the BRICS Plus summit.
WATCH: Indonesian President Joko Widodo meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow https://t.co/p8IsaBEBZU (Video: Reuters) pic.twitter.com/qzGDUb9wyf
— CNA (@ChannelNewsAsia) July 1, 2022
Jokowi responded that he supported “the United Nations’ efforts to reintegrate Russian food and fertiliser commodities and Ukrainian food commodities into world supply chains.” “Especially for the export route for Ukrainian food products, especially by sea, I really appreciate President Putin, who said earlier that providing security guarantees for food and fertilizer supplies from both Ukraine and Russia is good news,” Jokowi said.
In the joint address, Putin briefly touched upon the topic of Ukraine and simply stated that he had “informed” Jokowi “in detail about the situation that is developing in the Ukrainian direction.”
Jokowi also later announced that he had “conveyed a message from President Zelensky to President Putin” during the meeting and expressed readiness “to establish communication between the two leaders.” “In Kyiv, although the current situation is still very difficult, I still say that it is important to promote a peaceful settlement, as well as an open dialogue,” he said.
Sad, but not surprised, to see how little coverage Jokowi’s trip to Kyiv and Moscow has got in Western media. Whether you see Jokowi as a peacemaker or think he’s been played by Putin, trip by leader of world’s 3rd biggest democracy deserves more scrutiny https://t.co/G7sPIwDfbT
— Ben Bland (@benjaminbland) June 30, 2022
The Indonesian leader concluded his address by saying that his country “would like the war to end soon and the food, fertiliser and energy supply chains need to be restored immediately, because it affects the lives of hundreds of millions and even billions of people.”
Jokowi is among a very short list of world leaders to have met the leaders of both Ukraine and Russia in person during the course of the war. In April, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer became the first European Union leader to have a closed-door meeting with Putin at his Moscow residence since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Nehammer also visited Kyiv, where he met Zelensky and toured the Ukrainian capital and witnessed the aftermath of Russia’s military assault. Similarly, UN Secretary-General António Guterres also visited Moscow and Kyiv in April.