Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced on Friday that he had invited his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and confirmed that he had invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the G20 summit scheduled for November in Indonesia.

Indonesia, which chairs the G20 this year, has come under heavy pressure from the West, led by the United States, to exclude Russia since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.

But Jakarta resisted, arguing that its position as host required it to remain "impartial" and US President Joe Biden, in particular, had suggested Ukraine's participation to find a balance.

Attempt to isolate Russia on the diplomatic scene 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a tweet on Wednesday that he had been invited by Indonesia to the summit, after a telephone conversation with his Indonesian counterpart.

Joko Widodo also spoke with the Russian president on Thursday.

"On this occasion, President Putin thanked Indonesia for the invitation to the G20 summit and said he would attend," the Indonesian president said.

During this conversation, Vladimir Putin wished the "success" of Indonesia's presidency at the G20 and assured that Russia would contribute to it, declared to the press the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov.

But "for now it is premature to communicate the terms of Russian participation," he said, leaving doubts about the format of this participation.

Since the beginning of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine on February 24, Westerners have sought to isolate Russia on the diplomatic scene.

A meeting of G20 finance ministers in April in Washington illustrated the deep divisions of the group of major world economies with the boycott of certain meetings by the United States and several allies, protesting against the participation of Russians.

The concern for neutrality for emerging countries

But Indonesia, like most major emerging countries, wants to maintain a position of neutrality.

Joko Widodo said Friday that Indonesia will not send weapons to Ukraine, in response to a request from the Ukrainian president.

"I repeated, in accordance with the constitution and the principles of Indonesian foreign policy, that it is forbidden to send weapons to other countries", he said while offering humanitarian aid to kyiv.

The war in Ukraine and the G20 were also on the menu for a meeting on Friday between the Indonesian leader and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after which they displayed their convergences.

Joko Widodo highlighted the role of the G20 arena in enabling dialogue and resolving the humanitarian and economic impact of the conflict in Ukraine, while calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

“I agreed with the (Indonesian) President that the military attacks against Ukraine were intolerable, and that a violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity through force and intimidation, and an attempt to change the status quo unilaterally by force, is intolerable in any region,” the Japanese prime minister said.

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