Commendation also goes to First Lady Iriana who stoically stood by the President, accompanying him on the trip to what is currently the most dangerous war zone in the world. Iriana is only the second First Lady to visit war-torn Ukraine after United States President Joe Biden’s wife Jill made a surprise trip to the western part of Ukraine in May.

The photo of the Indonesian First Lady showing her hugging a distressed patient in a Kyiv hospital is surely one for the history books.

Such gestures and symbolism matter today because on the issue and substance, realistically there is only so much that President Jokowi could bring to the table to bring the war between Russia and Ukraine to an end. After all, with his now trademark grim face and green army T-shirt, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also relies heavily on symbolism to deliver his message of Ukrainian resistance to the world.

And if the second objective of the President's trip to Kyiv and Moscow is to help secure release the shipment of cereals and grain now trapped in Odessa to the world, that is also a monumental challenge.

Indeed, the odds are heavily stacked against President Jokowi being able to secure some kind a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine right now.

If anything, war on the ground intensified in the days leading to President Jokowi's visit to Kyiv on Wednesday.

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