Ukraine Ambassador Comments on Jokowi's 'Message' After Ukraine-Russia Visit

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Ukrainian Ambassador to Indonesia Vasyl Hamianin in a virtual press conference on Tuesday shared his view on the confusion surrounding the reported “message” from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky that President Joko Widodo relayed to Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

The controversy regarding this message came to light after Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, conducted a state visit to Ukraine and Russia, in what the Indonesian government claims to be a peacekeeping mission. 

Attempting to clear up the issue, Hamianin categorizes a message into three types with the first being a traditional written one that is delivered by someone; the second is a verbal statement conveyed by one person to another; and thirdly is an indirect message that is understood after two subjects conduct a conversation. The Ambassador believes President Jokowi’s situation involved his third explanation. 

“There are no written messages, nor were there any direct messages like ‘please tell this’ to Putin,” said Ambassador Hamianin in a virtual press conference on July 5. 

However, he remained clear that Ukraine's position on this matter is to continue opening the door towards peaceful resolutions but refuse to surrender to Russia under any type of circumstances. 

Previously on Thursday, June 30, or after a meeting with President Putin, Jokowi stated that he had conveyed a message from Zelensky to Putin. He stated that Indonesia was still willing to be a communication bridge between the two leaders, however, he did not reveal the message.

Public Relations of Ukraine’s Presidential Office, Serhii Nikiforov, denied President Jokowi's statement regarding President Zelensky's message to President Putin in local media Ukrainska Pravda and said the main discussion in Zelenskyy’s meeting with Jokowi was about the “grain corridor.” 

Meanwhile, Kremlin acknowledged that President Jokowi had indeed sent a message to Putin after the trip to Ukraine but was not a written message, said spokesman Dmitry Peskov on July 1. However, he did not declare what the message was. 

DANIEL AHMAD

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