Indefatigable
Volodymyr Zelensky is indefatigable in his diplomatic work.
The Ukrainian president tried to attend all the major summits or at least assert his presence via teleconferencing to appeal for aid and muster support for his besieged nation. He has addressed the US Congress, the European summit meetings and even the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Over the weekend, he materialized in Singapore to speak before the Shangri-La security forum. His participation was unscheduled. The keynote speech in this year’s forum was delivered by Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos.
On Monday morning, Zelensky landed in Manila to call on Marcos. The visit, while official, was unannounced and very likely hastily scheduled.
Zelensky was expected to personally invite Marcos to attend the Global Peace Summit soon to be held in Switzerland. This summit is being organized at Kyiv’s initiative. He also wanted to personally thank Marcos for the Philippines’ condemnation of the Russian invasion.
Kyiv is planning to establish an embassy in Manila soon. This will help consolidate our bilateral relations and enable us to expand areas of cooperation.
No nation is too distant, too small or too poor to escape Zelensky’s relentless diplomacy. In Southeast Asia, Singapore and the Philippines have explicitly condemned Russian aggression in Ukraine.
For Ukraine, international support is vital to its survival as a nation. Broad international support will help enforce the sanctions imposed against Russia. It will help the besieged country scrape in as much material as it needs to frustrate the invasion.
For the Philippines, condemning the Russian invasion required a tough decision based on principle. The Philippines relies on Russia for critical raw materials, tourism inflows and possibly industrial investments. We are prepared to forego all these to help a struggling nation stand up against aggression.
Recently, the Philippines found some spine in standing up to China’s bullying. In President Marcos’ keynote speech at the Singapore summit, he underscored our determination to assert our exclusive economic zone. He stressed that the international community has a stake in keeping the vital sea lanes