An Indonesian defence minister has floated a peace plan for Ukraine, triggering fierce criticism from western security officials but praise from China and highlighting the deep divide between the west and global south over Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.In a speech on Saturday at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual defence conference in Singapore, Prabowo Subianto proposed a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, followed by the creation of a demilitarised zone between current front lines, a UN mission and referendums in “disputed territories”.
The pitch from Prabowo, a former special forces commander who is a leading candidate for Indonesia’s presidential election next year, comes as the US and Europe struggle to persuade many developing countries to criticise Russia’s assault on Ukraine.
Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s defence minister, scoffed at the proposal. “I will try to be polite,” he said on a separate panel at the conference. “It sounds like a Russian plan.” He added that “we don’t need these mediators suggesting such a strange plan” before Russia was driven out of Ukraine.