Indonesia Criticizes Ukrainian Envoy over Russia Tweet

Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu) has summoned Ukrainian Ambassador in Jakarta Vasyl Hamianin after he posted on Twitter that Jakarta’s stance towards Russia wasn’t harsh enough.

Last weekend, the MoFA tweeted their country “strongly condemns the attacks carried out by Israel in Gaza which resulted in civilian casualties, including children.”

Replying to this tweet, Hamianin said: “How about strong condemnation of brutal attacks on Ukraine during the last 5 months? And deaths of hundreds if not thousands of children, including Muslim kids?”

Ngurah Swajaya, the director general for American and European affairs, expressed “displeasure and resentment” at Hamianin’s tweet that questions Indonesia’s foreign policies.

"His (Hamianin’s) social media post is both unacceptable and hurtful to the Indonesian people who consider Ukrainians as friends," MoFA spokesman Teuku Faizasyah was quoted as saying by Detikcom news website.

Teuku added that the envoy had been warned against repeating his action.

On August 5, Hamianin also criticized the Kemlu for taking part in the meeting between Russia and Southeast Asia’s regional grouping ASEAN which took place in Phnom Penh a day earlier.

Shortly after the meeting, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi released a statement describing Russia as a long-time partner of ASEAN and expressing Indonesia’s hope that the partnership between the regional bloc and Russia “will bring peace and prosperity in accordance with the UN Charter, the ASEAN Charter, and the principles of the international law.”

To this, Hamianin wrote, “It was a surprise to read the statement by Kemlu on Russia-ASEAN meeting. May I ask what Moscow regime has in common with ‘peace and prosperity’? Is it not Russia that violated all imaginable international rules, principles and UN Charter? Russia is a TERRORIST STATE.”