Ukraine offers military technical exchange program to PH

The Ukrainian government is ready to share the experiences of its soldiers to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and discuss the establishment of a military technical exchange program.

Denys Mykhailiuk, Ukraine's Chargé d'affaires in Malaysia, who also has jurisdiction over the Philippines, believes that the Philippine government may be interested in learning how Ukraine defended their rights against the occupation of a bigger and more powerful country like Russia.

"We can also discuss some military technical preparation and exchange in experience because our forte is the biggest war conflict since the time of the Second World War and for the Filipino army, they might be interested to study and learn experience from our veterans on how to counter a bigger enemy," Mykhailiuk said.

However, the Ukrainian official clarified his government is not encouraging the Philippines to go to war.

Instead, he said the Philippines should be prepared for any scenario, especially since there are parts of the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone being claimed by a bigger and more powerful country. 

The Ukrainian official did not mention any specific country, but China is claiming almost the entire West Philippine Sea, which according to the 2016 arbitral ruling is within the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone.

Freedom of navigation, maritime issues, and free trade are among the topics that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to discuss with Philippine President Bongbong Marcos via a phone meeting.

According to Mykhailiuk, "We also cooperate greatly in the areas of granting of free navigation and free trade, you know the Filipinos is the number one country with the quantity of seafarers and Ukraine is the second one, and so we can cooperate greatly in protection of maritime trade."

The AFP has not yet responded to Ukraine's offer of a military technical exchange program. However, it said earlier that despite China's actions in the West Philippine Sea, it still supports the peaceful resolution of disputes.

The Ukrainian official announced the offer of a military technical exchange program to the AFP in commemoration of Ukraine's 32nd Independence Day.

This is a significant event for Ukraine, even amid the ongoing war between Ukrainian and Russian forces.

However, the Ukrainian official reveals that despite the ongoing war, they are already planning and developing a recovery plan for rebuilding their infrastructure.

He said his country recognizes the skills of Filipino workers, such as engineers and construction workers, and hopes to have Filipino labor to help them rebuild their country.

"We will definitely be in bad need for labor, qualified labor to the country. We already launched the so-called fast recovery plan to transform and rebuild our economy not after the war but already in the time of the war because nobody knows how long it will be, and we lost approximately 30% of our economy," Mykhailiuk said.

He said Ukraine will be needing engineers, construction and development laborers for what is foreseen in the next 50 years as the biggest construction site in Europe.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, only a few Filipinos remain in Ukraine, most of whom are spouses of Ukrainian nationals who chose to stay  to help defend their country. —LDF/KG, GMA Integrated News