PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. dismissed insinuations the Philippines has been ignoring Ukraine’s request for a phone conversation between him and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
The President, in a media interview Sunday while en route to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum (WEF), said efforts to set up the phone conversation have been ongoing for some time now but it had been difficult to set a schedule.
He also said he was surprised when Ukrainian diplomat said their request had not been answered, despite the Philippines having agreed to set up a date for the call.
“Sinagot namin but we… couldn’t get it scheduled. I have no problem with talking to President Zelenskiy, especially now that mainit na ang giyera doon sa kanila (especially now that the war is raging),” he said.
Ukrainian chargé d’affaires Denys Mykhailiuk last week said their request for the talk has been pending since June 2022. He said Ukraine has contacted Malacañang “twice a month” since June last year, but it has not responded to Ukraine’s request for the talk.
Days later, he apologized for any misunderstanding as he said he was not complaining the the Philippines has yet to respond. He added that all he said was there was a pending request.
The diplomat has also said if the phone conversation proceeds, Zelenskiy will seek Marcos’ help through the participation or co-sponsorship of the Philippines in the peace plan on the fields of the United Nations (UN) in February this year.
The Peace Formula aims to punish Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, for crimes of aggression including implementing sanctions, such as trade and travel bans.
Marcos reiterated the Philippines’ support for any effort that will end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Asked if the Philippines will support the so-called 10-point peace formula to end the conflict in Ukraine, the President said, “That’s not for us to decide. Those details are for, should there be talks, between Ukraine and Russia,” he said.
