Indonesia Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto passionately defended a new peace proposal for Ukraine that would leave Russian forces locked in place, saying Asian nations know the costs of war as well or better than their European counterparts.
“We in Asia, we’ve had our share of conflict,” Prabowo said at the Shangri-La Dialogue defense forum on Saturday. “Maybe more, more disastrous, more bloody than what’s being experienced in Ukraine.”
The two-time presidential candidate said Indonesia wasn’t trying to take sides on who is right or wrong in the conflict, and he reiterated that his nation voted at the United Nations to oppose Russia’s invasion. But he said a cessation of hostilities in the conflict was essential, rattling off a list of Asian and African countries that have suffered from war in recent decades.
“Ask our Vietnamese friends, our Vietnamese brothers, ask our Cambodian brothers, ask them how many times they’ve been invaded,” Prabowo said. “Ask Indonesians how many times they’ve been invaded. We know war. We want to resolve, we want to help, but again its up to the two parties. What is the United Nations for if not conflict resolution.”
Prabowo’s proposal appeared to have many similarities to a Chinese peace blueprint that has been largely rejected in Europe, partly because it would leave Russian forces in control of Ukrainian territory it seized soon after the invasion in February 2022.
The former head of the Indonesian army’s special forces, Prabowo was fired from the military for his role in violence against pro-democracy activists following former leader Suharto’s fall in 1998, and subsequently denied a visa from the US. The Trump administration granted Prabowo a visa and welcomed him to the US in 2020.
In his remarks on Saturday, Prabowo — who also met with current Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin in Singapore — said Indonesia’s military was “one of the few examples in the world” of generals voluntarily withdrawing from politics, adding that he again planned to run for president in next year’s election.