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.”

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