Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Sunday he will urge his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts to open room for dialogue during a peace-building mission to the countries because "war has to stop and the global food chains need to be reactivated".

A proposal from the opposition camp that the official presidential debate be held in English instead of Indonesian has been met with jeers from the incumbent's supporters, who say the proposal is preposterous while facetiously suggesting that it could lead to debates in Arabic.