President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will visit the capitals of Ukraine and Russia after attending a multilateral summit in Germany next week, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi announced on Wednesday, in the hope of bringing an end to an ongoing war that has had global economic repercussions.

Jokowi has accepted an invitation from Germany to attend a meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized economies in the Bavarian Alps from June 26-28.

From there the President is expected to continue his journey to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and Moscow, Retno said, although she did not disclose the exact dates.

“Visits to these two countries will be carried out during abnormal circumstances. We understand that the current situation is still very complicated and the world understands the complexity of the existing problem,” she told reporters in an online press briefing.

One ministry official said afterward that setting up the visits was a “delicate” process, but Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD was quoted by state media as saying that the President would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 30.

In Kyiv, Jokowi would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the minister explained.

Responding to an inquiry on Jokowi’s planned visit, Ukrainian Ambassador to Indonesia Vasyl Hamianin said: “It was [Indonesia’s] decision”. A Russian Embassy spokesman did not offer further comment when asked.

Indonesia holds this year’s presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) largest economies. It has resisted pressure to exclude Russia from a summit in Bali later this year, having invited both leaders of the warring countries to join the meeting.

“In the midst of this difficult and complex situation, we’ve chosen not to use ‘megaphone diplomacy’ so that big goals that are useful for the world can be realized,” Retno said.

The minister said, however, that President Jokowi had “chosen not to stay silent,” opting instead to contribute to peace efforts in spite of the complexity of the situation.

“The President’s visit shows that Indonesia cares about humanitarian concerns, and is trying to contribute to the handling of the food crisis as a result of the war and the impacts that are felt by all countries, especially developing and low-income countries,” she said.

Vested interests?

Like many countries, Indonesia has sought to maintain a neutral position on the war and has called for a peaceful resolution to the months-long armed conflict.

Russia’s invasion, which has continued without pause since February, had killed more than 4,000 people and injured nearly 6,000 more, according to an estimate by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, as of June 19. The agency insists the exact number of casualties is impossible to determine in the fog of war.

Parts of Ukraine continued to be shelled by Russian forces following the high-profile visit of several European leaders on Friday, where they would “immediately” grant Ukraine candidate status to join the European Union, AFP reports.

Minister Retno said that Jokowi would be the first leader from Asia to visit the two warring countries.

Meanwhile, analysts lauded Jokowi’s attempt to help bring an end to all hostilities, while also noting that he would be going as the G20 president, whose main concern is the economic impacts of the war.

The war in Ukraine has choked global markets and caused surging prices for basic commodities such as meat, dairy products, cereal, sugar and vegetable oils.

While the impact on commodity prices has been less severe in Indonesia, the war did prompt the government to impose a short-lived export ban on palm oil products.

Gilang Kembara, an international politics researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said that Indonesia was responsible for ensuring that the G20’s agenda would remain intact and that all members of the group would attend the summit.

“Knowing Pak Jokowi, besides appealing to humanity, he will try to find common ground [on the economy with Ukraine and Russia],” Gilang said on Tuesday.

Russia is a member of the G20, whereas Ukraine is not.

Global role

For the better part of his presidency, Jokowi was known as an inward-looking leader who shunned global politics.

But now that he is faced with what could be his most high-profile international role yet, analysts are keen to see how much the President can change tack.

Ganewati Wuryandari, a researcher at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), said that a successful visit could “cement Indonesia’s credibility” as a middle power that is capable of mediating conflict.

However, Gilang was more skeptical, arguing that Jokowi’s aim was to safeguard Indonesia’s G20 agenda. “I think he will still be viewed as a leader that champions economic issues,” he said on Wednesday.

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