STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. President Vladimir Putin offered to have Russian Railways invest in Indonesia’s new capital, in a sign of warming ties with Southeast Asia’s biggest economy as the United States and its allies seek to isolate Moscow.
Putin said Moscow could take part in President Jokowi’s plan to move Indonesia’s capital to the island of Kalimantan from Jakarta, according to a statement by the Russian Embassy in the country.
He also said Russian energy companies are also keen to operate in Indonesia, especially in developing nuclear power, as atomic energy is a key part of Indonesia’s net zero emission plan. He said that Rosatom State Corporation has experience, competence, and technological reliability in the development of nuclear power plants. Putin said he wanted to establish cooperation with Indonesia, including in terms of culture, tourism, and education. One of them is Putin’s plans to open Moscow-Bali flights.
President Jokowi said he had conveyed a message from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday last week. However, Ukrainian Presidential Office spokesperson Serhii Nikiforov denied that Zelenskyy left a message to Jokowi for Putin.
According to him, Zelenskyy will convey himself to the public without intermediaries. Meanwhile, Russian News Agency TASS spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed there was a message from Zelenskyy delivered by Jokowi to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin spokesperson emphasized that the message was not written.
Bandung’s Parahyangan University international Affairs observer Yulius P Hermawan suspected that Putin’s attitude who discussed a lot more economic cooperation was because he was not interested in talking about war with Jokowi.
He added that Putin was not even interested in the messages of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered by Jokowi. Yulius regretted that the impression that emerged after the meeting was not about Indonesia’s efforts to become a peacemaker.
On the surface, the President’s shuttle diplomacy did not offer a breakthrough, let alone progress, in the efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war because the problem is too complicated to overcome by an individual in a short time.
But I believe Jokowi will pursue peace no matter what. In his Twitter account, the founder of and chairman of the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI), Dino Patti Djalal, expressed his disappointment with Jokowi’s failure to get a meaningful concession from Russian President Vladimir Putin when they met on Thursday.
The former deputy foreign minister concluded that Putin had totally ignored Jokowi’s peace mission because Russia was bombarding Ukraine when Jokowi arrived in Moscow.
Unlike his predecessors, especially sixth President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who was very ambitious to be recognized as one of the world’s leading leaders, especially in resolving global issues, Jokowi is very inward-looking.
He never expected to play a prominent role in the war in Ukraine. After his courageous trip to Ukraine and Russia, President Jokowi should immediately build a solid and strong team to follow up on his peace initiative.
In the lead-up to the G20 Summit, the presence of a powerful presidential spokesman with deep knowledge and experience in foreign diplomacy, as well as a personal bond with the President, is absolutely needed.
The candidate should come from within the Foreign Ministry. It is true that Jokowi’s mission to Moscow and Kyiv will not bring immediate results. But the President is on track to play a major peace-making role. The Indonesian people should support his initiative no matter their political stance (Red).
