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Ukraine: Out of a tiger’s mouth into a crocodile’s mouth
It is not difficult to predict Ukraine will have to face powerful Russia alone. Outsiders will only “fish in the murky waters”.
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This handout picture released by the Russian Defence Ministry on April 22, 2021 shows Russian forces landing a shore and taking part in a military drill along the Opuk training ground not far from the town of Kerch, on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of the Crimea. (AFP/Vadim Savitsky)
T
he Indonesian proverb “Lepas dari mulut harimau masuk mulut buaya” (literally out of a tiger’s mouth into a crocodile’s mouth) or its English equivalent “Out of the frying pan into the fire” can help to understand the difficult situation facing Ukrainians today.
They are under threat of invasion from Russian President Vladimir Putin despite his repeated denials. The United States-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has vowed to protect them, but the Western alliance is equally untrustworthy.
The proverb can also describe Indonesia’s challenge in sticking to its free and active foreign policy doctrine amid the rivalry between the US and Russia, as well as the steadily rising China.
US President Joe Biden has an overwhelming desire to restore US military and economic supremacy in the world. Unlike his predecessor Donald Trump who directly confronted China through unilateral tactics, Biden prefers a multilateral approach. The end purpose is just the same; both intentionally divide the world into friends and foes, emulating former president George W. Bush’s mantra “You are with us or against us.”
In his telephone conversation late last month with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Biden boasted he would defend the country’s sovereignty as soon as “[Russian] tanks or troops cross the border”.
The 44-year-old Ukrainian president, however, tried to keep a distance from Biden, apparently because he did not want to provoke Putin’s anger, but also probably because he remembered how Trump used military aid to press Zelensky to say “bad things” about Biden’s son Hunter before the 2020 elections.
"I'm the president of Ukraine, I'm based here, and I think I know the details deeper than any other president," said Zelensky, who is a former comedian, actor and director.
