MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on Tuesday expressed the Philippine government's support for a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine during his phone call with its leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“I told him that we in the Philippines are watching with admiration, the bravery and the nationalism that has been displayed by the Ukrainians during this crisis and that we join in his effort to reach a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict in his country,” Marcos said.

“Mr. President, we are with you in your search for peace,” he told Zelenskyy.

• Ukraine requesting for phone call between Zelensky, Marcos since June 2022
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Marcos' statement comes hours after Zelenskyy said the Philippine Chief Executive backed the "territorial integrity" of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian President on Monday night (Philippine time) tweeted about his conversation with Marcos Jr, describing it as “the first phone call in the history of bilateral relations with President of the Philippines."

Both leaders also “discussed further deepening of cooperation, in particular on international platforms,” he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in January denied a claim of a Ukrainian envoy that Manila had not responded to Kyiv’s repeated requests for a phone call between Marcos, Jr and Zelenskyy.

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Marcos earlier said that Manila was “happy to provide any expression of support” that the Ukrainian government would need during its ongoing conflict with Russia.

In November last year, he said Russia's invasion of Ukraine is "unacceptable"

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— Pia Gutierrez, ABS-CBN News