He also urged defense and military officials participating in this year's Shangri-La Dialogue meeting to sign a joint statement calling on Russia and Ukraine to cease hostilities
"I propose the general outline of the peace plan as follows. First, a ceasefire in place, that is a cessation of hostilities in place at present positions of both conflicting parties. Two, withdrawal 15 kilometers [9.3 miles] each from the forward positions to a new demilitarized zone. Three, the United Nations monitoring and observing force to be immediately formed and to be immediately deployed along this new demilitarized zone," Subianto said at the Shangri-La Dialogue defense meeting in Singapore, as aired by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
He also suggested that the UN should "organize, carry out and execute a referendum in the disputed territories to ascertain objectively the wish of the majority of the inhabitants," adding that his country is ready to contribute military observers and units under the UN peacekeeping auspices.
Subianto said that these steps have been historically proven to be effective, referring to the Korean conflict, which was resolved, although not permanently, by the cessation of fighting and the creation of a demilitarized zone. He argued that both Koreas have seen five decades of peace, which "is much better than the massive destruction and the killings of many innocent people."
"I propose that the Shangri-La Dialogue find a mode of declaration urging both Ukraine and Russia to immediately start negotiations for peace. This declaration should be voluntary from all participants here representing the various countries," the Indonesian defense chief said.
The conflict has affected all regions of the world, including the Indo-Pacific, Subianto stressed, adding that "for the security of the world, for the safety of the innocent, we have to achieve a cessation of hostilities as soon as possible."
The Shangri-La Dialogue, which is being held for the twentieth time this year, is attended by defense ministers of the Asia-Pacific region and their officials, as well as high-level delegations from the European Union and international organizations. Russia is not participating in the forum for the second consecutive year: in 2022, organizers withdrew Russia’s invitation on the eve of the summit, while this year the country received no invitation at all.
Russia has repeatedly argued that it is all in favor of peace talks as long as Ukraine takes into consideration the situation on the ground, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out the ceasefire option.