Jakarta. The escalating security crisis along the border of Ukraine and Russia could hamper global economic recovery amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo told the gathering of finance ministers and central bank chiefs of G20 countries in Jakarta on Thursday.

“As I said during the IMF-World Bank annual meeting in 2018: ‘Winter is coming’, and now a harsh winter does come already. The pandemic is not over yet and the world economy encounters turbulence,” the president said.

“The present situation doesn’t allow for rivalries and new tensions that may impede global recovery and put global security at risk, just like what’s happening in Ukraine now,” he said.

His remarks came days after Russia began to deploy more than 100,000 forces near the borders of Ukraine and Belarus, triggering a warning from the United States and NATO that Russia could invade at any time.

Jokowi said security crises in one region could easily affect other regions while the economic impact of the pandemic is still spreading across every corner of the world and that “not a single country can recover by itself”.

“Every party must cease rivalries and de-escalate tensions so that we can harness a synergy and collaborate among us to save and heal the world we are living in,” Jokowi said.

“We must work together to curb the inflation, to anticipate a hike in food prices, to overcome a shortage in containers and other logistical chains, and to prevent starvation.”

Indonesia holds the current presidency of the G20 and promotes a catch-phrase of “recover together, recover stronger”.

“Indonesia takes the G20 presidency with great enthusiasm because we want to contribute more to the world and encourage synergy and collaboration, including among finance ministers and central bank governors from G20 countries,” Jokowi said.

He encouraged participants to come out with "concrete and practical monetary and fiscal policies" that can be implemented immediately.