Indonesia, the country holding the presidency of the G20 this year, will have to walk on a ridge line during the coming months, due to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. The first ministerial meeting of the G20 since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which brought together, on Wednesday April 20, in Washington, the finance ministers and central bankers of the twenty largest economies on the planet, sparked protests and boycotts of some of the Western guests for the sessions in which the Russian delegation took part.
However, Jakarta has so far resisted calls to disinvite Russia, highlighting the “non-political” of the G20. Indonesian President Joko Widodo also wants to make the November heads of state summit in Bali that of the exit from Covid-19 and greater cooperation between developed economies and others. The slogan chosen by Indonesia for its presidency is “Recover Together, Recover Stronger” (“recover together, recover stronger”). Bali must also offer a showcase of the achievements of the first economy in Southeast Asia – and the only one to be present at the G20 – since the election of “Jokowi”, as the president in Indonesia is generally called, at the head of the country. , which had 270 million inhabitants in 2014.
In the eyes of the West, Jakarta certainly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while India and Vietnam abstained during the vote on the March 2 United Nations General Assembly resolution. But the country of “Jokowi” shows little eagerness to boycott Russia, and in particular its oil. At the end of March, the president of the Indonesian public oil group Pertamina, Nicke Widyawati, officially requested permission from elected officials to import Russian black gold “at a good price”.
Social anger
At this stage, Pertamina “has not received a green light”the purchase being “still at the planning stage internally”according to a representative of the group interviewed by the Japanese economic information site Nikkei. Several important diplomatic meetings in the coming weeks could weigh on Indonesian postures. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi began a tour of Europe and Turkey on April 19, meeting her French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, in Paris on Wednesday April 20.
Above all, the Indonesian president will go to Washington, from May 10 to 12, to participate in the special summit between the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States. Faced with threats of a boycott of the Bali summit by the United States and its Canadian, British and Australian allies, if Vladimir Putin takes part, “Jokowi” will have the “mission to persuade Joe Biden to allow the warring parties to find a win-win solution before the start of the summit”warns an editorial from Jakarta Post April 21.
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