JakartaPost-Apr 14
The Russian-Ukranian war has become increasingly difficult for Indonesia’s G20 presidency to ignore as the country faces renewed calls to invite Ukraine to the 2022 Group of 20 Bali Summit in November, if it was insisting on Russia’s attendance. The topic was broached during Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly’s visit to Jakarta on Monday, when she said she would “not be sitting with [Sergey] Lavrov at the same table” at the G20 summit, referring to the Russian foreign minister, in an echo of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s sentiment as expressed on March 31. The idea to invite Ukraine to the G20 summit was first floated by United States President Joe Biden, who said the country should be allowed to attend if Russia was still invited. The forum grouping the world’s largest economies has served as a multilateral problem-solving platform, and its membership includes nations that have been reluctant to condemn Russia’s actions. The US and Canada, as well as other members of the Group of 7 industrialized economies, a subset within the G20, have sought to punish Russia in as many ways as possible following its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, which Biden has equated to genocide. Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said earlier that the ministry would continue to consult “with all relevant stakeholders”, including other G20 member states, to ensure that the summit would proceed despite calls for a boycott. Teuku also said Indonesia was still mulling over whether to invite Ukraine to November’s summit. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2022/04/13/calls-mount-for-ri-to-invite-ukraine.html.
