DFA: Marcos Jr. phone call with Ukraine’s Zelensky needs to be arranged first

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The phone call between President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky needs to be discussed and arranged first, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Thursday.

DFA Undersecretary Carlos Sorreta issued this comment after the Chargé d’affaires of the Ukraine Embassy in Malaysia said their government has been trying to set up a call between Marcos and Zelensky since June but to no avail.

Sorreta did not mince in expressing displeasure in the way the issue was brought up by the Ukrainian government, saying it was “not good” diplomatic practice.

“We don’t really appreciate when matters like these are vented by representatives of another government through the press. I think I’ll limit my comment,” he said in a Palace briefing.

“If he wants it to happen, we have to discuss it. These things are arranged, talking points are discussed, there’s pre-discussion. It’s not good diplomatic practice to be doing it the way he did,” Sorreta added.

Denys Mykhailiuk, the Chargé d’affaires of the Ukraine Embassy in Malaysia,  said they had contacted Marcos through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) twice a month since June 2022 but has received no response.

Mykhailiuk said the Ukrainian government wanted to discuss the Philippines’ participation or cosponsoring on the Peace Formula.

According to the United Nations website, the Peace Formula was previously outlined by Zelensky in September 2022, which aims to restore peace in Ukraine.

Part of this plan is Russia’s punishment for committing an “illegal war.”

As a then presidential candidate, Marcos said he believed there was no need to stand in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

However, he took back his statement months after winning the 2022 elections and said that the war between the two countries was “unacceptable.”

JPV