Indonesian President meets with Zelenskyy and Putin to push for peace talks

Indonesian President and G20 leader Joko Widodo left for Europe on Sunday, where he said he plans to visit Russia and Ukraine and meet with the countries’ leaders to push for peace talks.

Widodo traveled to Germany as a guest for the G7 summit on June 26-27 and will then travel to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“The mission is to ask President Zelenskyy to open a peace dialogue forum to build peace because the war must end,” he told a press conference in Jakarta.

The two leaders will also talk about the food supply chain “which needs to be reactivated soon,” Widodo said. From Kyiv, Widodo is to visit Moscow and meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

The visit to Moscow is scheduled for June 30, Indonesian authorities previously announced.

“With the same mission, I will ask President Putin to open a dialogue and immediately reach a ceasefire and end the war,” he said. In early April, Widodo announced that he had called Zelenskyy and invited him to join world leaders as a guest at the G20 summit in Bali in November 2022.

Indonesia holds the rotating presidency of the G20 this year and has been pressured by Western countries led by the United States to exclude Russia from the meeting.

However, Widodo did not rescind the invitation to Russia, saying Putin had indicated his intention to attend the November summit.

Like most major emerging economies, Indonesia has tried to adopt a neutral stance and called for a peaceful resolution to the months-long conflict.

Vidodo refused to send arms to Ukraine at Zelenskyy’s request and instead offered humanitarian aid.

After completing the Europe visit, Widodo will travel to the United Arab Emirates before returning to Indonesia.