President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the Philippines supports Ukraine’s efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In a Twitter post, Mr. Marcos confirmed that he and Zelenskyy held a telephone conversation on February 13 “I had the pleasure of talking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday (Monday),” Mr. Marcos said on his official Twitter account on Tuesday morning after the Ukrainian leader tweeted about it the previous day.
“I told him that we in the Philippines are watching with admiration, the bravery and the nationalism that has been displayed by the Ukrainians during this crisis,” the President added.
“We join in his effort to reach a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict in his country. Mr. President, we are with you in your search for peace,” he added.
Earlier, the Ukrainian President expressed gratitude to Mr. Marcos for his support for Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“We discussed further deepening of cooperation, in particular on international platforms,” Zelenskyy tweeted.
The conversation of the two leaders came a month after the President denied snubbing the European leader amid the effort of the Ukrainian side to seek an opportunity for the two leaders to talk but to no avail.
Zelenskyy, who has long been seeking a phone conversation with Marcos, was the first to tweet about their call on Monday night.
“Had the first phone call in the history of bilateral relations with President of the Philippines @bongbongmarcos,” he said.
“Thanked him for supporting sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We discussed further deepening of cooperation, in particular on international platforms,” he added.
Last month, Ukrainian Charges D’Affaires of the Embassy of Ukraine in Malaysia Denys Mykhailiuk said they have been trying to have the two leaders speak to each other since Marcos assumed office in June 2022 but failed to receive a response.
Marcos later clarified that he did not snub Zelenskyy’s request for a phone conversation and has always been willing to talk with him.
Mykhailiuk then apologized to his Philippine counterparts for the “misunderstanding.”
In November last year, Mr. Marcos described the Russia-Ukraine war as “unacceptable” and reiterated his call for both nations to end the conflict diplomatically. “…War is unacceptable and we ask all parties involved, there were several speeches that I made, urging that peace be brought back to Ukraine and that the confrontation be brought to the diplomatic space," he said. Ukraine has been in conflict with Russia since February 2022, leading to the death of thousands and driving millions of Ukrainians to flee the country.