Indonesia Snubs the West & Buys Oil from Russia!!

Hello everyone and welcome to Geopolitical Trends. My name is David Oualaalou. So good to be with you as always. In a challenge move to the US and the West for that matter, Indonesia decided to go ahead— pardon me— and start buying Russian oil. Yes, you heard me, they're going to be buying Russian oil. And by the way, Indonesia also decided to invite the Russian President Vladimir Putin to G20 Summit, which would be held in Bali on 3 days from today, on the 15th and 16th. So in this video, I'm going to provide you some insights as to what led Indonesia to embark on that decision and move forward despite what the West or the US is saying, for that matter. So, but before I'll delve deeper As always, make sure to subscribe if you have not done so and smash that notification button so you will be notified every time I upload a new video. And I can't thank you enough for your support. It means a lot. So, and thank you, by the way, for your comments and answers and so forth. It, it's, it's very, very refreshing to know there are very interesting people out there. So, so So here's the thing. Let's, let's, let's dive in. The general manager of the Indonesian National Oil Company is called Pertamina. Her name is Nikki. Let me get the name here correctly. Nikki Widati. I hope I pronounce it correctly. She said to a session in Parliament that Indonesia is seeking to buy Russian oil. And she added, and I quote here, in light of the high prices and the geopolitical situation, we need— we see that there are opportunities to buy from Russia, to buy oil from Russia at a good price, and we have communicated this with the Russians, and we will direct our purchases to Russia, end of quote. And this was in a parliament session, which means it's going to become now a matter of policy. But again, like I always say, things don't happen in a vacuum. Only a few months ago, Indonesian President Joko Widodo decided that, you know what, it's time for me— for Indonesia, that is— to consider joining India and China in buying Russian oil, because India and China are buying oil from Russia. And guess what? They're buying and paying for it in their own currencies. They're not paying in the dollar. You all see what's coming, right? And this is what I've been talking about, for example, with the BRICS. The creation of a new currency is gonna see a tremendous change to the global financial system. Basically, it will be the demolition, rather, of the US dollar in the long term. And this is, of course, is not going to happen overnight. But here's the thing, the president of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, decided to go along like what China did and India, uh, and start buying oil from Russia. And the reason for him to embark on this decision is to offset the mounting pressure from the country's rising, rising energy prices. Because the cost is so high. And when he was asked if Indonesia will buy oil from Russia, Widodo said, and I quote, we are always looking at all options. Of course we will buy if we get a better price, end of quote. Because remember also, what will Widodo did a couple of weeks ago, which was about in September, if I am not mistaken, because I remember the protest that took place, and I will talk about them soon. What he did back then is he raised subsidized fuel prices by about 30%, and even with that, he did state it, and I do remember him saying when he said, this is the last option for me. And also because it was due to financial pressures that sparked the protest in September, if I'm not mistaken, it was September 9th, 2022, of this year, of course, in the country of 270 million people. People weren't happy about it, and they're not only in Jakarta, they were in other places as well. So But here is the thing, we have to look at it from again the big picture. Any move from Indonesia to buy Russian crude at prices higher than the ceiling agreed upon by the G7 nations could expose Indonesia to US sanctions. So they are basically in a dilemma. Do you satisfy the domestic uh, uh, uh, population, or do you bow to pressure from outside, from the West and the US? So Indonesia, as you may know, is Southeast Asia's largest economy, which has posted an annual inflation of the rate of about 4.6% in, in August. And this, this rate, the 4.6%, was above what the central bank in Indonesia has forecasted between 2 and 4% for the third consecutive month due to higher food prices. But it tells you also where things are, and this is why Indonesia is looking at it from the perspective of the welfare of the Indonesian people. They're going to say to the West, hey, we don't want to have a protest in the street, first of all. We don't want to have people to pay beyond what they can afford. So the other, the only option left for us is to buy cheap Russian oil. It's a business decision because this is common sense, common economic sense, that is. So considering it, because it's considered out of need and necessity. So in terms of buying at a competitive price, and this is what Indonesia is doing basically, in light of the high global prices. Look what's going on in Europe right now, you know, and that's why you're seeing demonstrations now emerging in Spain. 50,000 people descended to the streets in Paris just yesterday, in London, in Italy, in Prague, in Moldova. You got the idea. So Europeans are fed up. Indonesia wants to get ahead of this. And this is one way for them is to sort of purchasing at a good price oil from Russia because Russia has massive oil. So as we know, so, so while acknowledging that such a decision may face Western criticism and of course may extend to the decision of Western capitals on investments, it could impact the foreign investments in Indonesia. Because it could have a possible negative impact. But here is the thing, this is where you admire Indonesian politicians, including the president, because they are there to serve the people. So they are saying that the justification and approach in the Indonesian discourse by deciding to go ahead with the purchase of oil from Russia is is related to: 1) the economic dimensions, 2) to energy security, 3) to maintaining appropriate prices, and 4) the associated social and economic stability, in exchange for the possibility that Indonesia will have to buy oil from other expensive sources, which may reflect on the consumers. You all can see the politicians in Indonesia, they are thinking in terms of economics for the average Joe and average Jane in Indonesia. I admire them for that. They are not doing it for political reasons. They're thinking for the welfare of their people, and rightly so. Indonesia also, as I mentioned at the beginning, will be hosting the G20 Summit, which starts on November 15th and 16th, uh, uh, this month. So only few, few more days from now. And one thing about it is all eyes are watching whether Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, will attend, will attend the G20 Summit. You know, even the Biden administration has mentioned the possibility of a meeting between Biden and Putin, and of course a, a meeting between Biden and President Xi of China. But this morning, the Kremlin announced that the Russian president will not— he made the decision— will not be attending the G20 summit, even though Indonesia extended the invitation despite US pressure. Even the Ukraine— Ukraine has no say into this. The Ukraine at the UN were saying to the ambassador of the ambassador of Ukraine at the UN was saying that they don't want Russia to attend the G20 summit. Who? It's mind-boggling. Who gives the right to a country like Ukraine to dictate the term, or even the US, or even whomever? You don't dictate who attends and who does not attend. You know, and Indonesia made it clear that they will invite the Russian president to attend the G20 summit. But as I said earlier, this morning the Kremlin announced, released a statement by the President Vladimir Putin that he will not attend the G20 summit due to a private schedule or agenda that would not allow him to do to do so for the need for him, Vladimir Putin, that is, to be in Russia. So, and this is why I said, uh, even during the UN, uh, vote regarding the Ukraine, uh, crisis, Indonesia has agreed to the UN United Nations resolution on the Russia's war on Ukraine, but Jakarta has not taken action as its, its neighbor Singapore did not, has adopted sort of regarding any sanctions against Russia. They did not, like, like China, like India, Singapore, Pakistan, Iran, the Global South, all of them, they went against the US at the UN vote. So, and the reason for Indonesia for embarking on this, because of the long-standing relationship between Indonesia and Russia. So mind you that Indonesia attempts to balance its foreign policies in its dealing with influential international and regional players, for that matter, such as the US, China, Russia, the European Union, and India. You know, some will include Australia into this. I won't. Australia has no say into all this. Australia basically follows what the United States dictates to them to do. So I will not include it into this realm here, you know. And as I said earlier, officially now Putin will not be attending, uh, the, the, the summit. But here is the question you need to ask yourself: is Indonesia pivoting to China? So, so China and Indonesia— and I'm gonna give you some just caveat here for you to know— uh, China and India in— and Indonesia signed an agreement to promote the use of local currencies. Get this, let that sink in, guys. Yes, Indonesia and China signed an agreement to promote local currencies. So the Chinese yuan, uh, RMB, and the Indonesian rupiah. Yeah, in— and they're gonna be using this in trade and investment transactions between the two countries. So Yuan, actually, it is sort of in the market in Indonesia since China's massive infrastructure project pertaining to the BRI, the Belt and Road Initiative, that started back in, in, in 2012. You know, it's been reported, and I will provide you the links of course to all this, that currently around 10% get this, guys, 10% of Indonesia's global trade uses yuan. Interesting, isn't it? So in 2018, the value of the yuan reached 201.2 billion RMB, or about $29 billion. You know, or of course, if you translate that to the Indonesian market, you you're looking at about 63% of the entire Indonesian market. You all see where this is going, and this is why Indonesia decided to do, uh, to embark on this. So, so here is my question for you for today, uh, based on what I just— this brief analysis that I provided you. Is Indonesia ditching the United States for China? Let me repeat this. Is Indonesia, based on what I just shared with you, ditching the United States for China? Make sure to let me know what you think, and I will be happy to read your comment. As always, remember, geopolitics impacts your daily life in more ways than one. Till next time, guys. Bye-bye.