Jokowi Demands War in Ukraine to Stop

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi, called for the ceasing of the war between Russia and Ukraine during the special ASEAN-US Special Summit held at the United States Department of State on Friday, May 13, 2022. The event was also attended by the United States President Joe Biden.

"When the world was supposed to heal from the Covid-19 pandemic, the world faces a new problem, the war in Ukraine. When the world needs cooperation and collaboration, instead, rivalry and confrontation intensify. When the world needs stronger multilateralism, instead, unilateralism prevails," Jokowi said in his statement on Saturday, May 14, 2022.

According to Jokowi, the war in Ukraine has created a humanitarian tragedy and only aggravated the world's economy. The increase in food prices, energy, and inflation will burden the economy and slow down efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goals in developing countries and in less-developed countries.

Furthermore, Jokowi said that the war in Ukraine has weakened multilateralism and had the potential to disintegrate international relationships. Jokowi stated that war never benefitted anyone.

"The world has no other choices but to stop the war right now. Every country, every leader has the responsibility to create enabling environment so that war can be stopped, peace can be achieved," Jokowi said.

During the event, Jokowi mentioned that the current economic growth is very concerning. IMF lowered its prediction on economic growth in emerging and developing Asia by 0.5 percent in 2022 and 0.2 percent in 2023. The World Bank also lowered its prediction of the economic growth of several ASEAN countries to 1.2 percent.

Jokowi explained that for some ASEAN member countries, a 10 percent increase of oil price because of the Russia-Ukraine war will result in decreasing national income by 0.7 percent. Meanwhile, the increase in wheat prices will result in the increase of poverty number by 1 percent.

In addition to President Joe Biden, the Special Summit was also attended by ASEAN leaders. Jokowi also welcomed the United States' initiative through the Indo Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)

"Of course, the cooperation under IPEF must be inclusive. I am expecting synergy between IPEF through the implementation of cooperation priority in the AOIP [ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific]," Jokowi said.

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH