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JAKARTA: President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo explained his reasons for failing to bring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin together in a dialogue. At the end of June 2022, he visited the two countries in conflict for a peace-building mission.

He recalled that he spent 1.5 hours talking with President Zelensky and 2.5 hours talking with President Putin.

“I actually want a space for dialogue, but I see in the field that it’s difficult to bring President Putin and Zelensky together in a dialogue,” said the state head during an event of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) at TMII, East Jakarta, Tuesday.

He thus cancelled the intention and chose to discuss the impact of the war between the two countries on Indonesia and other countries. “So I turned [the topic of conversation] to the food crisis. That’s it, I’d like to talk about this,” he added.

Although the world is facing a food crisis, the former governor of Jakarta said Indonesia is still in a safe situation. Recently, Indonesia even received an award from the International Rice Research Institute and had been declared self-sufficient in food since 2019.

“We surely have to be vigilant, be careful, but don’t bring up pessimism. This is what I despise. We must remain optimistic because there is an opportunity in every difficulty. That’s for sure,” said Jokowi.