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Indonesia mum on G20 invitation after Ukrainian claim
Officials were unwilling to comment on a tweet by the Ukrainian president suggesting Indonesia invited the country to the G20 summit.
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President Volodymyr Zelensky, of Ukraine, addresses a meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York City on April 5, 2022. (AFP/Timothy A. Clary)
The government on Thursday remained tight-lipped over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s claim that he was invited to the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Bali to be held later this year, despite an official confirming that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had spoken with him over the phone.
With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entering its ninth week and with global tensions escalating, Indonesia has faced growing calls to invite Zelensky to at least some of the meetings under its G20 presidency after the United States and its allies failed to force Moscow out of the economic forum.
When asked about Zelensky’s invitation to the summit, Foreign Ministry senior adviser and G20 co-sherpa Dian Triansyah Djani referred to the Presidential Palace for comment, while also suggesting that G20 member states should not lose sight of substantive discussions.
“What is certain is that Indonesia has invited Ukraine’s finance minister to the [G20] Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Washington [in the US]. As regards an invitation to the summit, that will be communicated by the Palace,” he said at a press briefing.
Triansyah confirmed that the President had been in touch with Zelensky on Wednesday.
The Presidential Palace and the State Secretary's office did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation.
Early on Thursday, Jokowi said he had offered Indonesia’s support for Ukraine during the phone call, but made no mention of inviting Zelensky to the summit in November.
