VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Russian President Vladimir Putin quipped on Monday that he would have a serious talk to the West about its assertions that he was to blame for all the economic chaos sown by the conflict in Ukraine and the West's crippling sanctions.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has killed thousands and displaced 14 million people, while the West's attempt to isolate Russia as punishment and Moscow's blockade of grain shipments from Ukraine's Black Sea ports, have sent the price of oil, natural gas, grains, cooking oil and fertilisers soaring.

At a televised meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Putin told Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that Russia's economy was doing well, despite the Western sanctions.

Lukashenko said the sanctions had given both countries the impetus to focus on self-development, and that the elites of the West were deluded about the causes of their economic woes.

"On the economy, thanks are really due to them (in the West) as they have given us such a push to our own development," Lukashenko told Putin, who smiled and nodded.

"What is happening over there is that they really underestimated it by reading their own media. They got inflation yet the truth is 'Putin is to blame', 'Putin is to blame for everything'," Lukashenko said.

Putin pursed his lips and nodded.

"We will have a serious talk to them," Putin said with a forced smile.

Lukashenko chuckled and said "Yes". (Reuters)

A Russian diplomat at the country's permanent mission at the United Nations in Geneva said on Monday he was leaving his post because of his disagreement with Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, a rare political resignation over the war.

Boris Bondarev, a who identified himself on LinkedIn as a counsellor at Russia's permanent mission to the UN who worked on arms control, told Reuters: "I went to the mission like any other Monday morning and I forwarded my resignation letter and I walked out."

"I started to imagine this a few years ago but the scale of this disaster drove me to do it," he said, referring to Russia's invasion of Ukraine that began on Feb. 24.

He said he had raised his concerns about the invasion with senior embassy staff several times. "I was told to keep my mouth shut in order to avoid ramifications," he said.

There was no immediate comment from the Russian permanent mission to the UN.

Earlier, he announced his departure on LinkedIn.

"I studied to be a diplomat and have been a diplomat for twenty years," Bondarev wrote. "The (Russian foreign) ministry has become my home and family. But I simply cannot any longer share in this bloody, witless and absolutely needless ignominy."

Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in what it called a special operation to degrade its southern neighbour's military capabilities and root out people it called dangerous nationalists.

The West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia and provided Ukraine with military support in response. (Reuters)

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday he was concerned about what he called moves by the West to "dismember" Ukraine, and accused Poland of seeking to seize the Western part of the country.

He offered no evidence for his assertions.

"What worries us is that they are ready, the Poles and NATO, to come out, to help take western Ukraine like it was before 1939," Lukashenko said during a televised meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Lukashenko, a close ally of Putin, said Kyiv would eventually have to ask for help in preventing the seizure of western Ukraine.

Moscow has in the past suggested that Poland seeks to establish control over historical Polish lands in Ukraine, a claim that Warsaw denies as disinformation.

Poland is one of Ukraine's strongest supporters, sending weapons across the border and taking in more than 3 million Ukrainian refugees.

Belarus said in March its armed forces were not taking part in what Moscow calls its "special operation" in Ukraine, but it did serve as a launchpad for Russia to send thousands of troops across the border on Feb. 24.

Under a non-aggression pact signed in 1939 just before the outbreak of World War Two, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union carved Poland up between them. Most of the territory seized by Moscow is now in either Belarus or Ukraine. Kaliningrad, formerly German East Prussia, became an exclave of Russia. (Reuters)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said the economies of a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific are still not fully recovered.

Although, said the Head of State, currently many countries are trying hard to get out of the big challenges, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, and war.

"The economies of a number of Asia-Pacific countries have not yet recovered, still below pre-pandemic levels, 70 percent of the total new unemployment occurred in our region and 85 million people have returned to the abyss of extreme poverty," said the President, in his remarks at the opening of the commission's third session. 78 United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), from the State Palace, Monday (23/5/2022).

The President added, based on the predictions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the International Monetary Fund, economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region fell 0.5 percent, to 4.9 percent. The reason is that inflation is also estimated to reach 8.7 percent, or up 2.8 percent from the original estimate.

"The achievement of the SDGs (the Sustainable Development Goals) is getting delayed. It is estimated that our region will only be able to achieve the SDGs in 2065, and according to the Global Climate Risk Index, six of the 10 countries most affected by climate change in the long term are in Asia Pacific," he said.

To speed up economic recovery, Jokowi said that the pandemic response must continue, and the Covid-19 vaccination gap in the region must be closed.

"This region has the country with the highest vaccination achievement and also the lowest in the world. The success of vaccination determines the reactivation of the national economy and connectivity with the world economy. UNESCAP can support the establishment of a network of regional vaccine production and distribution facilities, overcome logistical challenges, and shorten supply chains," he stressed.

In addition, the President also asked UNESCAP to strengthen funding for the SDGs.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates the need for USD 1.5 trillion annually to ensure the SDGs are achieved in the Asia-Pacific by 2030. However, the availability of global funding is only USD 1.4 trillion.

"This huge gap must be closed. Private sector investment must be encouraged. Although Asia-Pacific is the largest region for inbound and outbound foreign investment, the value of investment to the region itself is still small. UNESCAP needs to encourage strengthening of intraregional investment, support ease of doing business, promotion and business matching among member countries," he said.

The President also hopes that UNESCAP will collaborate with ADB and other funding institutions. He also gave an example in Indonesia itself, to promote various innovative funding, namely through SDG Indonesia one, green sukuk, and the carbon economy.

"New sources of growth must be strengthened. Digitization, empowering MSMEs, and green growth are our common future. Optimizing trade digitization will cut trade costs in the region by at least 13 percent. MSME access to financial inclusion and regional supply chains needs to be encouraged. Support for Green growth efforts are urgently needed, including the energy transition, and tax capacity needs to be strengthened, including carbon taxes," he said. (RRI)