President Marcos met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Malacañang on Monday.
The two leaders were in parallel situations involving conflict with superpower nations over territorial disputes and growing aggression that threatened global peace and stability.
Zelenskyy arrived in Malacañang around 8:00 a.m. He was given arrival honors before entering the Palace.
“It is a great pleasure to meet with you to discuss some of the issues that are common to our two countries and hopefully find ways for both of us together,” Marcos was quoted telling Zelenskyy during their meeting.
The two leaders were expected to discuss the Ukraine-Russia war and the escalating tension in the Indo-Pacific region involving China’s maritime expansion in the South China Sea.
President Marcos recently addressed the tension between Manila and Beijing in his keynote address at the 2024 Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last Friday, where he stressed that peace and stability in the contested waterway is a “global issue.”
Mr. Marcos also underscored the 1982 UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and the binding 2016 Arbitral Award, which affirmed the Philippines’ maritime rights.
The President emphasized the Philippines’ role in asserting the integrity of UNCLOS, particularly in the West Philippine Sea.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy arrived in Singapore last Saturday to participate in the global defense forum, where he discussed recent developments in the Ukraine-Russia war.
“Global security is impossible when the world’s largest country disregards recognized borders, international law, and the U.N. Charter, resorts to hunger, darkness, and nuclear blackmail,” Zelenskyy said in his X account.
The Ukrainian leader, moreover, said he joined the 2024 Shangri-La Dialogue to discuss support from the Asia-Pacific region for a planned peace summit in Switzerland this June.
Zelenskyy also met with United States Defense Chief Lloyd Austin to give updates on the current battlefield situation in Ukraine and to talk U.S. commitment to providing aid to Ukraine to defend itself against ongoing Russian aggression.
Ukraine and Russia have been at war since 2014 after Russia occupied and annexed Crimea from Ukraine and supported pro-Russian separatists.
Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 at the escalation of the ongoing conflict between the two nations.
