Zelenskyy arrives in the Philippines, meets with Marcos

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy is in the Philippines to meet with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. at Malacañang.

Zelenskyy, who arrived in Manila on Sunday evening for a visit that was kept well under wraps, had flown in to Singapore on Saturday, June 1, for what Reuters described as an "unscheduled" appearance at the Shangri-La Dialogue.

Marcos also attended the inter-governmental security forum where he reiterated the Philippines’ sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea.

At the sidelines of the defense dialogue, Zelenskyy met with other world leaders including Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Timor-Leste’s President José Ramos-Horta, and Indonesia’s President-Elect Prabowo Subianto. He also met with United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and some representatives from the US Congress. 

Zelenskyy invited them to be part of the Global Peace Summit. 

In a phone call with Zelenskyy in 2023, Marcos expressed unity with the Ukrainian President’s “search for peace,” as he said the Philippines is “watching with admiration, the bravery and nationalism that has been displaced by the Ukrainians” amid Russia’s attacks.

The Philippines has expressed its support for Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, voting at the UN General Assembly to denounce Russia’s invasion, expressing “explicit condemnation” against “the use of force against the political independence and territorial integrity of any state.”

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, had also expressed intention of deepening the cooperation with the Philippines in particular international platforms.

To recall, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February, 24, 2022, in what its President Vladimir Putin claimed was a "special military operation" to "de-Nazify" the country.

Russia's war in Ukraine has resulted in a terrible human cost, inflicting huge suffering on millions, according to the United Nations. 

International reports said that US President Joe Biden recently allowed Ukraine to utilize US weapons inside Russian territory to help the country defend its northeastern Kharkiv region, a move that angered Moscow. — BM/KBK, GMA Integrated News