THE President and G20 chairman Joko Widodo set off yesterday to Europe where he said he plans to visit Russia and Ukraine and meet with the countries’ leaders to urge peace talks.

He would be the first leader from Asia to visit the two countries.

Jokowi, as he is popularly known, departed for Germany to attend as a guest for the G7 summit from yesterday to today, and he will then go to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“The mission is to ask ... President Zelenskyy to open a dialogue forum for peace, to build peace because the war has to be stopped,” he said.

The two leaders will also discuss the food supply chain “that needs to be reactivated” soon, Jokowi said.

From Kyiv, Jokowi is scheduled to visit Moscow and meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

The visit to Moscow is planned for June 30, Indonesian authorities said earlier.

“With the same mission, I will ask President Putin to open a dialogue and to immediately have a ceasefire and to stop the war,” he said.

Earlier in April, Jokowi announced he had called Zelenskyy and invited him to join world leaders at G20 Summit in Bali in November 2022 as a guest.

Indonesia holds the rotating presidency of the G20 this year and has been pressured by Western countries, led by the United States, to exclude Russia from the meeting.

Jokowi, however, did not rescind the invitation to Russia and said that Putin has expressed his intention to attend the November summit.Indonesia, like most major emerging economies, has tried to maintain a neutral position and has called for a peaceful resolution to the months-long conflict.

Jokowi refused to send weapons to Ukraine in response to a request from Zelenskyy, instead offering humanitarian aid.

After concluding the European visit, Jokowi will head to the United Arab Emirates before returning to Indonesia.

 - AFP