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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. finally spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a long-requested phone call on Monday.

During their conversation, Marcos told Zelensky that the Philippines support Ukraine in its "search for peace".

"I had the pleasure of talking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday. 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. Mr. President, we are with you in your search for peace," Marcos said in his Twitter post on Tuesday morning.

In his post, Zelensky said "he thanked Marcos "for supporting sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

"We discussed further deepening of cooperation, in particular on international platforms," he added.

It can be recalled that Denys Mykhailiuk, charges d’affaires of the Embassy of Ukraine in Malaysia, said a phone call request between Zelensky and Marcos was made by Kyiv since the Philippine president was elected in June 2022.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Carlos Sorreta previously said the way the announcement was made by the charges d’affaires of the Embassy of Ukraine in Malaysia about the long-awaited phone request of Ukraine to the Philippines was "not a good diplomatic practice".

Mykhailiuk issued an apology saying that his statement had been misunderstood. He explained that what he said is that there is a pending request for a phone conversation between the two presidents. Robina Asido/DMS