Indonesian President Joko Widodo will visit Russia and Ukraine next week and will hold talks with the leaders of both countries, his foreign minister said on Wednesday.
According to Retno Marsudi, Widodo is the first Asian head of state to visit both countries since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
The president travels to Kyiv and Moscow after attending the G7 summit in Berlin to be held Sunday and Monday. Seven rich industrialized nations, namely Germany, France, Canada, Italy, Japan, Great Britain, and the United States meet there. The European Union is also part of the G7 but is not included among the seven independent states.
“President Widodo has chosen to try to contribute to peace in Ukraine, not to sit still,” Marsudi said at a news conference. She described the conflict as “extremely complicated”. “The visit is a demonstration of the President’s humanitarian concerns and part of the effort to address the food crisis caused by the war, which is having an impact on all countries.”
Indonesia is the current chairman of the G20, which consists of twenty major economies. The country voted in March in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution condemning Moscow’s military attack on Ukraine but not directly criticizing Russia.
The United States and other Western countries have called for Russia’s expulsion from the G20, but Indonesia has insisted that all member states should be invited. Widodo has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to an upcoming G20 summit in Bali, even though Ukraine is not a member.