Jokowi Calls Putin, What Is the Discussion?

On Thursday (28/4/2022), President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. During the call, the two discussed several issues, one of which was regarding Ukraine at the G20.

The news was conveyed directly through Jokowi’s tweet on Twitter.

“Exchanged views over the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin @KremlinRussia_E about the situation in Ukraine and the G20 cooperation,” Jokowi tweeted on Friday (29/4/2022).

“Underlining that the war must be stopped immediately & peace negotiations gave a chance. Indonesia is ready to contribute to achieving this goal,” he added.

Meanwhile, on the Kremlin’s official website, the two leaders reportedly discussed two things, namely the Russian military attack on Ukraine and bilateral relations between the two countries.

Regarding Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the Kremlin said Jokowi asked Putin to describe the current situation in his neighboring country.

“At Joko Widodo’s request, Vladimir Putin outlined Russia’s assessment of the situation in Ukraine in the context of the ongoing special military operations,” the official website said.

For bilateral issues between the two countries, Putin and Jokowi discussed Indonesia’s leadership at the G20 forum. The two also promised to hold joint follow-up contacts regarding the Indonesian presidency at the forum.

“The issue of Russian-Indonesian cooperation was discussed, and taking into account Jakarta’s leadership in the G20, various aspects of the association’s activities,” added the website statement.

Previously, Jokowi had held a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This he wrote directly on the official Twitter account of the President of the Republic of Indonesia.

“Yesterday, I spoke with the President of Ukraine @ZelenkyyUa. I repeat, Indonesia supports all efforts for peace negotiations to be successful and is ready to provide humanitarian assistance,” Jokowi said on Thursday (28/4/2022).

However, in the brief statement, Jokowi did not mention Indonesia’s official invitation to Ukraine to attend the G20 meeting in Bali at the end of this year.

The issue of Russia’s presence in the G20 has sparked a polemic among members of the world’s largest economic group. This is due to the resistance of Western countries who have views condemning Moscow’s attack on Ukraine.

Even so, Indonesia said it would still invite Putin to the G20 summit in October. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said Putin would still be invited because the invitation had been distributed long ago.

It is known, that the war between Russia and Ukraine has now entered 2 months and has not shown the direction of a ceasefire. Currently, the Russian side is intensifying attacks in the eastern region of Ukraine.