Jakarta – Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto has recommended the United Nations (UN) to hold a referendum in challenged areas following Russia’s intrusion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The referendum would objectively guarantee the will of the majority within the challenged lands, he explained during the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue 2023 in Singapore on Saturday.
Subianto suggested the referendum as part of an effort to resolve the dispute in between Russia and Ukraine, which has actually been on for quite a long time.
He recommended that first, Russia and Ukraine perform a ceasefire and stopped the violence.
Second, both Russia and Ukraine withdraw their soldiers 15 kilometers far from their previous position to create a demilitarized zone.
The minister also encouraged the UN to form and deploy a peace observer troop along the agreed-upon demilitarized zone.
He likewise highlighted that Indonesia is all set to contribute military observers and troops to the UN’s peace observer objective.
Subianto said he believes that comparable actions and the Korean Demilitarized Zone contract succeeded in ending the Korean War.
Nevertheless, he acknowledged that the conflict in the Korean Peninsula in between South Korea and North Korea is still on to this day.
In the previous five years, some form of peace could be observed– in plain contrast to mass damage and violence against the innocent, he said.
Because of this, he stressed that now is not the time to search for celebrations to blame in the dispute between Russia and Ukraine.
He stressed that Indonesia rejects Russia’s invasion, as conveyed through the agreement on the UN’s resolution requesting Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine.
According to Subianto, in every dispute, each party included has their own version of the story, and both parties think in their own righteousness.
Nevertheless, for worldwide security and the safety of those who are innocent, conflicts ought to be stopped as quickly as possible, he stated.
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