JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): Indonesia told the United Nations that military action in Ukraine was unacceptable and called for a peaceful solution through dialogue and diplomacy at an emergency session of the UN General Assembly that kicked off on Monday (Feb 28), amid a push to further isolate Russia on the international stage.
Jakarta, as leader of the Group of 20 (G20) economic forum this year, had taken the less popular route when it chose not to recognise Russia as the aggressor in a statement on the hostilities in Ukraine, which President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo later amplified in his call to “stop the war”.
Indonesia reiterated this stance at an emergency special UNGA session that was convened at the request of 11 UN Security Council members, following the forum’s complete failure to take action on Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, now entering its sixth day.
“Military actions in Ukraine risk the lives of civilians and threaten regional and global peace and stability,” said Indonesian Ambassador to the UN in New York, Arrmanatha Nasir, in his remarks at the UNGA session.
“Our actions at the UN General Assembly must contribute to the greater humanitarian interest,” he emphasised.
In support of its pacifist stance, the envoy said Indonesia was among several countries drafting a UNGA resolution demanding Russia withdraw its troops from Ukraine.
The draft resolution, which is currently being discussed and is expected to be put up to a vote later this week, is nonbinding, but would demonstrate the extent of the world’s concerns over the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.
Arrmanatha said Indonesia was playing an active role in pushing for resolutions to contain “the aspirations of all parties in a balanced manner” in order to prevent divisions at the UN, and that it prioritised peaceful dialogue, civilian protection and access to humanitarian assistance. But the nation’s response to the war in Ukraine has only attracted growing criticism, mostly focused on its ambivalence toward Russian aggression.
Dino Patti Djalal, a former deputy foreign minister and the cofounder of the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI), recently said that Indonesia must take a clear stand on the conflict and “avoid mincing words”.
“This is not a case of two countries fighting over a disputed territory; the border between Russia and Ukraine is very clear already and recognized by the international community,” Dino said in a YouTube post.
Russia’s actions, he said, not only violated the UN Charter and international law, but were also contrary to the Dasasila Bandung – a set of guiding principles on promoting world peace that came out of the Asia-Africa Conference of 1955, which served as a precursor to the establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement.
By the book Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi, who had spoken with both her Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, insisted on Tuesday that Indonesia had to “clearly assess” the situation, as it maintains close ties with both countries.
She expressed hope that talks between the two sides – which began on Monday – could produce favorable results.
“Our Constitution mandates that Indonesia participate in maintaining world peace. Peace cannot set in if war breaks out. Indonesia has been consistent in its foreign policy stance,” she told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday.
In addition to her defence of the foreign policy stance, Retno reported that 99 Indonesian nationals and five foreigners with familial ties to citizens were evacuated to neighbouring Poland and Romania, with 13 more awaiting safe passage out of the country. Another 24 have chosen to stay.
Fitriani, a researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said that while Indonesia could justify making open-ended statements based on its “free and active” foreign policy, it should also state its intent much clearer.
“I think Indonesia is being cautious because it still hopes to preside over the G20 activities this year. We have seen how committed the government is to the G20 meetings, so it was necessary to be neutral and not accuse a big country like Russia,” she told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
“[However, it is also] missing in action, since there is no statement on behalf of the G20 in response to [the Ukraine crisis], even though the G20 set up an extraordinary meeting when the United States withdrew from Afghanistan [last year].”
Separately, dozens of Ukrainian nationals on Tuesday staged a rally in Bali, the site of this year’s G20 Summit. Jakarta has been expecting Russian President Vladimir Putin to join the event in person, alongside other G20 leaders.
However, that meeting may well be in doubt, with a new push among Western members of the G20 under way to expel Moscow from the club of the world’s biggest economies, with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison reportedly in favour of the idea to turning Russia into a pariah state.
But Fitriani questioned whether Indonesia would have the courage to do something so conspicuous, especially since it needed support from all G20 countries, including China, to fulfill its G20 agenda.
“Indonesia needs those big countries to recover stronger, recover together with the G20,” she said.
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