MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with his Philippine counterpart on an extraordinary tour of Asia Monday and urged regional leaders to attend a Swiss-hosted global peace summit on the Ukraine war that he accuses Russia, with China’s help, of trying to undermine.
Zelenskiy arrived in Manila late Sunday unannounced and under heavy security after speaking at the Shangri-La Defense Forum in Singapore over the weekend. He was given a red-carpet welcome with military honors at the presidential palace on Monday and then met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. before leaving the Philippines.
Philippine Communications Minister Cheloy Garrafil said President Marcos had committed his country to participating in the peace summit.
“I am pleased to hear that you will join our peace efforts today,” President Zelenskyy told President Marcos. “This is a very strong message.”
Zelenskiy said Ukraine needs more mental health workers for its soldiers. Marcos pledged help and welcomed Ukraine’s decision to open an embassy in Manila this year that will speed up efforts to provide assistance.
“We have sought to promote the continued observance of international law in our region,” President Marcos said. “The problems you face are similar and parallel to ours, and therefore the Philippines has always taken a position of promoting peace.”
The two leaders criticized China at the Singapore forum, attended by senior defense and government officials from around the world, including from Washington and Beijing. The meeting came amid escalating wars in Gaza and Ukraine and rising tensions and competition for influence between the United States and China in the Indo-Pacific region.
Speaking at a press conference in Singapore on Sunday, Zelenskiy accused China of helping Russia disrupt a peace summit hosted by Switzerland by pressuring other countries not to attend.
“Russia is using all means to disrupt the peace summit, using China’s influence in the region and also Chinese diplomats,” he said, without elaborating. “It is unfortunate that a big country like China has become a pawn of (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin.”
China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Zelenskiy’s allegations.
China claims to be neutral in the war, putting it at odds with Ukraine, the United States and most of Europe. Trade with Russia has expanded, mitigating the economic impact of Western sanctions. U.S., Ukrainian and other intelligence agencies say there is evidence that Chinese-made components are used in Russian weapons, even if China is not directly supplying arms to its neighbor.
Switzerland had hoped that China would attend the peace conference in mid-June, but Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning suggested on Friday that this was unlikely.
Speaking at the security forum, President Zelensky expressed disappointment that some countries had not committed to participating and urged defense officials to take part in the talks in Switzerland. He said Ukraine has some proposals it would like to put forward at the summit as a basis for peace, including nuclear security, food security, the release of prisoners of war and the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.
He said Ukraine was “ready to listen to various proposals and ideas that could lead to an end to the war and a sustainable and just peace.”
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with Zelensky on the sidelines of the conference to renew U.S. commitment to Ukraine. “Putin’s war of aggression has shown us a glimpse of a world none of us want,” Austin said in a speech at the forum on Saturday.
Philippine President Marcos, whose country is locked in an escalating clash with China over islands in the South China Sea, bluntly highlighted the dangers of a flashpoint conflict in the region at a defense forum on Friday. He said that if “deliberate acts” led to the deaths of Filipinos in fighting on the high seas, “I think that would be very close to what we would define as an act of war.”
“That would definitely increase the level of response,” Marcos said in response to a question.
“Illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive acts continue to violate our sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction,” Marcos said, without naming China, but added that the Philippines remains committed to a peaceful resolution to the dispute.
Austin told the forum that the U.S. commitment to the Philippines as a treaty ally was “ironclad,” but reiterated the importance of dialogue with China.
“We know that things can happen at sea and in the air,” he said, “but our goal is to make sure things don’t get unnecessarily out of control.”
___
Associated Press writers Joel Carpitan in Manila and Hannah Arkhilova in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
