Ukraine war: Putin and Zelensky refused to meet, Indonesia says of failed peace talks

Name: Russia promises to open sea route for Ukrainian wheat, says Indonesian president
Uploaded: 2022-08-24T06:11:32.000Z
Duration: 2 min 37 s
Description: Russia promises to open sea route for Ukrainian wheat, says Indonesian president

Joko Widodo in June met Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv before holding talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow during a peace-building mission

When his efforts at brokering peace made no headway, he focused his talks on the global food crisis, including on wheat stockpiles

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo shakes hands with Russia’s Vladimir Putin after their meeting in in Moscow on June 30, 2022. Photo: AP

SCMP’s Asia desk

Published: 2:11pm, 24 Aug 2022

Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Tuesday said he found it “difficult” to bring his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts together for talks aimed at ending the six-month-long war when he met them in June.

Widodo held discussions with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv before meeting Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow during a peace-building mission to the warring countries.

“I actually wanted a space for dialogue when I went to Ukraine and Russia. But on the ground, I realised it was difficult to bring Presidents Zelensky and Putin together to the negotiating table,” Widodo said at an event organised by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in East Jakarta.

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Russia promises to open sea route for Ukrainian wheat, says Indonesian president

Widodo also said after his efforts to broker peace made no headway despite spending a total of four hours with the two leaders, he changed the theme of the meeting to discuss the global food crisis exacerbated by the conflict. The president added he exchanged views with Zelensky and Putin on wheat stockpiles in Ukraine and Russia.

Food security is a key priority for Widodo, who is set to host a Group of 20 leaders summit in Bali in November.

Indonesia is the world’s second-biggest importer of wheat and has felt the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine, which cut off grain supplies from a region that fed billions of people in the form of bread, pasta and packaged foods.

The Southeast Asian nation is trying to increase output of corn and wheat substitutes like sorghum, sago and cassava to bolster its food supply chain.