Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - Joko Widodo, the Indonesian president and current G20 chair, will travel to Moscow later this month to m...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - Joko Widodo, the Indonesian president and current G20 chair, will travel to Moscow later this month to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Indonesia's national news agency, citing the country's security minister.
The crisis in Ukraine has overshadowed this year's meetings of the Group of 20 major economies, with Indonesia battling to keep the group unified as some Western countries threaten to boycott the summit and press for Russia's expulsion.
The Indonesian leader, also known as Jokowi, was due to see Putin on June 30, according to the Antara news agency.
"Yes, that is on the president's agenda," Mahfud MD, the coordinating security minister, told reporters on Monday at the presidential palace.
In a report last week, Russia's national news outlet TASS confirmed the meeting, citing a Kremlin source.
According to Indonesian media reports, Jokowi will attend a Group of Seven (G7) summit in Germany on June 26-28 before heading to Moscow, with a visit in Ukraine possibly being considered.
A spokesperson for Indonesia's foreign ministry, Teuku Faizasyah, said Jokowi would visit Germany, but added, "We are still finalising all pertinent things for the scheduled visit to other countries."
Indonesia said in April that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy would be invited to the G20 leaders' summit in Bali in November, but that Putin's invitation would not be revoked.
President Joe Biden of the United States, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are among those who oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin's participation.
During a visit to Jakarta earlier this month, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that he would attend anyway.
According to political commentators, the Indonesian president may also want to bring up the subject of Russia's blockade of Odessa, which has considerably curtailed food exports out of Ukraine, one of the world's largest suppliers of wheat, maize, and sunflower oil.
