Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo is set to visit Moscow at the month-end for a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The move is likely to upset western powers which wish to isolate Russia under Putin, after Moscow invaded Ukraine.

The meeting will take place on June 30, Russia’s Tass news agency reported.

“This is going to be a very important visit” and the Russian government is “preparing for it now,” Tass news agency said late on Tuesday, citing a Kremlin source.

The position taken by Indonesia, a major emerging economy, aligns with the stance adopted by the fellow emerging economies of the BRICS, which have taken an independent view of the Russia-Ukraine war.

In contrast, the G-7 countries that include the most powerful western countries and Japan have been openly hostile to Russia. They have been arming Ukraine in the war that began in February this year.

Positioning for a possible role for mediation, Indonesia has invited the Russian President and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky for G-20 talks that will be held in November in Bali.

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