In an unforeseen development, President Marcos met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Malacañan on Monday morning, June 3, following the latter's call for other countries to join the upcoming Swiss-organized peace conference on the war in Ukraine this month.

Zelenskyy arrived in Manila on Sunday evening. Like Marcos, he was at the 21st International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last week but could not meet each other as Marcos immediately left for Manila the same evening.

Joining President Marcos in the meeting were House Speaker Martin Romualdez, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil, and Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo along with other Foreign Affairs officials.

Meanwhile, with Zelenskyy were high-ranking Ukrainian officials such as Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Chief Military Advisor Roman Mashovets, and Foreign Policy Advisor Igor Zhovka.

This is the first time the two leaders would talk following their phone conversation in February last year where they discussed deepening the relationship between the Philippines and Ukraine.

"Thanked him for supporting sovereignty territorial integrity of. We discussed further deepening of cooperation, in particular on international platforms," Zelenskyy wrote in his X account in February last year.

In a news conference in Singapore, the Ukrainian leader accused China of allegedly pressuring other countries not to attend the upcoming peace talks. However, China maintained that it is not taking sides in the war between Ukraine and Russia.

So far, Zelenskyy said 106 countries and organizations have signified to join the summit.

In November 2022, President Marcos described the war between the two European countries, which started with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as "unacceptable," and urged both parties to resolve the conflict diplomatically.

In a forum in Washington, D.C., last year, he raised the need to protect the sovereignty of each nation in the face of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

"I think we are in full agreement that we must continue to protect the sovereignty, not just sovereign rights, but the sovereignty of each nation, no matter where they are," he said.

"The situation in Ukraine cannot continue and it is something that is really anachronistic in the modern world," he added.

Marcos also said the Philippines had been straightforward in supporting the resolutions passed by the United Nations (UN) in the war in Ukraine.