President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. on Monday clarified that he did not ignore the phone call request of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in June 2022.
The clarification comes after Embassy of Ukraine in Malaysia chargé d'affaires Denys Mykhailiuk pronounced last week that they have not gotten a response from the office of Marcos, who was the President-elect at that time, in regards to the call request.
Mykhailiuk said the two leaders are expected to discuss the bilateral cooperation between Ukraine and the Philippines.
"There was a talk of it a couple of months ago pero wala pang napag-usapan. That's why nagulat kami when a special envoy came out and said hindi pa namin sinasagot. Sinagot namin but we could not get a schedule," Marcos told reporters in a chance interview upon his arrival in Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The chief executive emphasized that he has no problem conversing with President Zelensky, especially now that Ukraine is in the middle of a war with Russia.
"Of course, we are, again, on the side of peace and that remains the same," he said.
"Any expression of support that he might feel that is needed, we are happy to provide," Marcos added.
The foreign affairs department earlier said that the Ukraine diplomat's remarks were "not good diplomatic practice."
"Ukraine is a country that we have [a] good relationship with. But when matters like this is vented by a representative of another government through the press, it's not something [that] we appreciate. If he wants this to happen, we have to discuss it. These things are arranged," Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Carlos Sorreta earlier stressed.
