THE Philippines will participate in the global peace conference to be hosted by Switzerland this month, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who made a short visit to Manila, said sends a “very strong signal” to peace efforts.
Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil yesterday confirmed that the “Philippines is participating” in the summit from June 15 to 16. Asked if President Marcos Jr will attend the summit personally, Garafil said it “has yet to be finalized.”
Zelenskyy flew to Manila from Singapore on Sunday night and met with Marcos in Malacañang yesterday morning. He thanked Marcos for the Philippines’ decision to participate in the peace summit.
Zelenskyy earlier on Sunday made an unscheduled appearance in Singapore at Asia’s biggest security conference, and addressed the last day of the Shangri-La Dialogue forum, asking for support and participation for the summit aimed at bringing peace to his war-ravaged nation that Russia invaded in February 2022.
Marcos also attended the Shangri-La Dialogue but did not meet with Zelenskyy. He addressed the event on Friday and returned to Manila afterwards.
Zelenskyy said about 100 other countries are participating in the summit which is a “very strong step on the way to peace”.
“Mr. President, I’m happy to hear today from you that you’ll participate in our peace steps, steps to the peace…,” he said adding Ukrainians want “to bring peace to our homes.”
In a post in his X account following their meeting, Zelenskyy said it is important for countries in Southeast Asia to join the event.
“We discussed the inaugural Global Peace Summit and the importance of Southeast Asian countries being represented there. I am pleased that the Philippines will participate in the summit,” he said.In an interview before leaving Manila, Zelenskyy said the summit also included three issues – food security which is important in the bilateral relations of the Philippines and Ukraine; nuclear security which is important to the world; and humanitarian which includes getting back some 20,000 Ukrainian children who were taken by the Russians when it occupied a territory of Ukraine.
He said that it was important for him to make a short visit to Manila “directly to invite him (Marcos) to peace, to participate in the peace summit.”
He said he also talked to Marcos about some details of what is happening in the war between Ukraine and Russia.
He said it was also important to inform other nations, especially in Asia, not to give in to the influence of Russia.
Zelenskyy, while emphasizing the importance of unity among countries, said, no one should occupy or invade another country’s territory.
Russia, which first invaded the Ukrainian autonomous republic of Crimea in 2014, launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Zelenskyy said if Ukraine completely falls and Russia succeeds in occupying their territory, the war could extend to other continents including Asia.
The Ukrainian leader, during his meeting with Marcos, reiterated he is “grateful to the Philippines for supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, for its clear position on Russia’s aggression against our country, and for supporting important UN resolutions.”
The Philippines has been urging Russia and Ukraine to settle the conflict through diplomacy, and voted in favor of six United Nations (UN) resolutions on Ukraine, which emphasized the need for a “comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine.”
Marcos told Zelenskiy he was “honored” the Ukrainian leader was visiting Manila.
“It’s a great pleasure to meet, to discuss, issues that are common for both countries, and hopefully, we find ways for both of us together,” Marcos said.
Russia, which calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation,” has not been invited to the summit. Russia has dismissed the talks as meaningless without its participation.
UKRAINIAN EMBASSY
Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian government is set to open its embassy in the country within the year as it looks to the Philippines as an important ally in Asia.
“I’m also very happy that this year we will open [an] embassy in Manila, that’s [a] very good decision,” he said, adding that the Philippines and Ukraine are also looking at exploring other areas of cooperations including exporting Ukrainian agricultural products to Manila.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine can also share its expertise on digitalization and cybersecurity with the Philippines.
Diplomatic ties between the Philippines and Ukraine were formally established on April 7, 1992.
There were around 200 Filipinos in Ukraine in the past years but this is now down to 25, who are mostly married to Ukrainians, due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
In 2022, Ukraine ranked as the 90th trading partner of the Philippines, the 119th export market and 76th import source.
The total trade between the countries amounted $16.9 million with export valued at $1.49 million and imports at $15.41 million
Zelenskyy asked the Philippines to send Filipino mental health workers to Ukraine to help ensure the welfare and the mental health of their soldiers amid the crisis.
“You mentioned about humanitarian possibilities, especially for medicine and like I said to you, especially, psychological mental health and etc., — army. So, you understand how many people need their help when they come back, they can’t lose in the families,” Zelenskyy said.
Marcos said sending mental health workers to Ukraine is something that the Philippines could do especially with the Philippines being “quite well-known in health care in terms of providing assistance.”
During the meeting, Marcos also reaffirmed the Philippines’ support to Ukraine and vowed “always to promote peace and to do everything that we can to promote that peace.”
He said the Philippines will continue to extend whatever help it can to the Ukrainians especially to promote peace and “bring an end to the fighting and to come to a political resolution of your country.”
Both leaders acknowledged similarities in the situation of the Philippines and Ukraine as both face territorial issues.
The Philippines has overlapping claims with other countries, including China, in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea while Ukraine is at war with Russia.
Zelenskyy reiterated that this makes it important for Ukraine to win over Russia as their victory would signal to the world that no one should occupy other country’s territories.
