Marcos eyes strong ASEAN united front in call for end to Russia-Ukraine war
WASHINGTON, D.C.
—President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. believes Southeast Asian countries must maintain their united front in calling for an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia.
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Photo courtesy of KJ Rosales/PPA Pool)
Marcos, during his engagement at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) ASEAN Leadership Forum, said the Philippines continues to be "very clear" in its position, calling for the war in Europe to end. "The Philippines has been very clear in our support for the resolutions in the United Nations that were passed upon the onset of the war in Ukraine. And that we respect the sovereignty and territoriality of every single nation in the world," Marcos said. "And that applies most certainly because they are in this incredibly critical situation where there is an outright war going on," Marcos added. The President said the Member States of ASEAN "are in full agreement" that they must continue to protect the sovereignty and sovereign rights of each nation. "No matter where they are and that the situation in Ukraine cannot continue and it is something that is really anachronistic in the modern world," Marcos said. He stressed that the region must continue to have a united front against the war, given that its impact has reached many parts of the world. "We must continue to present the united front because this doesn’t — the war in Ukraine has affected everyone, strangely enough because it’s not something that we expected. We never expected that the war in Ukraine would make any difference to the lives of ordinary Filipinos," Marcos said. "Well, it has in a very serious and profound way and that’s why it is essential that we are all --- I speak in terms of ASEAN, I speak in terms of Asia, that we are all (standing) shoulder-to-shoulder and continuing (to assert) the rights of every sovereign nation to protect its borders," he added. The President stressed that this must be "the principle that we must hold close and fight very hard to defend."