Prabowo's Proposal For Ukraine-Russia Bets Jokowi's Reputation Of Indonesia

Photo: BPMI Setpres/Lukas

JAKARTA - Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto proposed a peace proposal in the Ukraine-Russia conflict at the Shangri-La Dialogue international forum, Singapore. However, the proposal has been rejected by Ukraine because it is considered strange.

Researcher for the study of Russia and Eastern Europe at Airlangga University International Relations (Unair) Surabaya, Radityo Dharmaputra, assessed that Prabowo had risked Indonesia's reputation in the eyes of the world which had been positive. This is because the proposal seems to put Indonesia in favor of Russia.

"Can this lead to embarrassing the name of Indonesia? Yesterday there had been various reactions from the media in the west, especially and from political figures from western countries and Ukraine itself, they said Pak Prabowo's proposal was strange, resembling a Russian proposal and of course unacceptable," said Radityo, Friday 9 June.

"And this is Indonesia's reputation at stake. I will not say that I will be humiliated immediately, but at stake here. Pak Prabowo may make mistakes, embarrass Indonesia and his own name in the international forum," regrets him.

Radityo also assessed that Prabowo's proposal has the potential to hurt the confidence of the people and the Ukrainian government in Indonesia. He reminded that the relationship between Indonesia and Ukraine was actually quite harmonious thanks to President Joko Widodo's visit last year.

From there, Ukraine saw that Indonesia could play a role in the peace process between Ukraine and Russia, however, this condition could now be disrupted due to the emergence of a peace proposal from Prabowo which Jokowi turned out to be unknown.

The proposal that was too hasty was filed yesterday, which was baseless, unreasonable, and not in accordance with the situation on the ground actually hurt the trust of the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian government, of course," said Radityo.

On the other hand, Radityo also assessed that the meeting between Prabowo and the Ukrainian Ambassador to Indonesia Vasyl Hamianin after the polemic emerged did not necessarily make the situation finished. Because, there is no complete explanation of the meeting.

"It has been tried to fix the situation, Mr. Prabowo met with the Ukrainian Ambassador yesterday and the news I saw in the media Mr. Vasyl said his business was finished and it was clearer now. But the problem is we don't know as clearly as possible. Of course Indonesia needs to improve its reputation," he said.

Lebih dari itu, Radityo berharap Prabowo dan pemerintah Indonesia harus segera bergerak memulihkan hubungan dengan Ukraina imbas dari proposal tersebut. Salah satu upaya terdekat misalnya memberikan hormat hingga dukungan logistik bagi warga yang terdampak dari jebolnya dam di Ukraina yang diduga akibat konflik dengan Rusia.

This is what might be done to improve reputation. Because if not, especially among the people of Ukraine, Indonesia will be considered a country that turns out to be both defending Russia. If in the eyes of the world, Indonesia will be in doubt, what exactly does Indonesia want to be? How come the proposal is similar to the proposal. Russia, "said Radityo.