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RI condemns Russia attack amid plans to evacuate
“Stop the war. War brings misery to mankind and puts the world at risk,” President Jokowi tweeted on Thursday.
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who is leading the Group of 20 economic forum this year, has called for a stop to the war in Ukraine, as the Foreign Ministry makes preparations to evacuate Indonesian citizens from the conflict area.
“Stop the war. War brings misery to mankind and puts the world at risk,” the President tweeted on Thursday.
Russia has moved military forces across the border into parts of eastern Ukraine claimed by separatists and has pressed further into previously uncontested Ukrainian territory from a number of angles.
The attack, which Ukraine has called “a full-scale invasion”, has incensed Western powers and riled others who fear the invasion will hurt the frail global economy and break up cooperative initiatives to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic. Major world markets were uniformly down on Thursday.
At a webinar on Thursday, Indonesia’s Group of 20 co-sherpa Edi Prio Pambudi said the geopolitical dynamic of the Ukraine crisis was “certain to impact the consensus-making process” at the economic forum.
“This clash will complicate our interactions, but we will strive for peaceful settlement without ignoring the credibility of the disputing parties,” Edi said.
“As a bridge builder, Indonesia will [...] invite the world to focus on speeding up the pandemic recovery.”
Last week, Jokowi criticized G20 countries for starting “new tensions that disrupt the global recovery” from COVID-19, as Indonesia sought to corral the world’s biggest economies into collaboration on global economic resilience measures.
Condemnation, evacuation
In a separate press briefing on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said it was important for all countries to respect international law and United Nations Charter provisions on territorial integrity.
Faizasyah underscored Indonesia’s cordial relations with both Ukraine and Russia, but noted that armed conflict between them would likely impact regional security and trade relations just as the world started emerging from the pandemic.
He said Indonesia had started talks with Russia, Ukraine and other parties concerned to underline the importance of settling disputes peacefully.
Jokowi’s rebuke of the violence comes as the Indonesian Embassy in Kyiv seeks to ensure the safety of 138 citizens who reside in Ukraine.
Judha Nugraha, the Foreign Ministry’s citizen protection director, told journalists that all Indonesian nationals in the country had been ordered to gather at the embassy in the Ukrainian capital.
He added that Jakarta was open to the possibility of an evacuation, with coordination from representative offices in Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Russia.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Vasyl Hamianin, confirmed the evacuation plan at another press briefing, saying the Indonesian embassy was “ready to evacuate” its citizens “to a safer place”.
He said Ukraine was prepared for dialogue but hoped that Indonesia would use its position as a “force that has an influential voice globally” to stand with Ukraine.
Sources familiar with the plan said the Indonesian mission would evacuate citizens over land to neighboring Poland, considering that Ukrainian airspace was closed. (tjs)
