Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the Government will "make no apologies" for inviting the Ukrainian president to Ireland.
He was responding after the Russian Ambassador to Ireland issued a statement in which he launched a blistering attack on Irish political leaders following the visit by Volodymyr Zelensky this week.
Speaking at the British-Irish Council in Wales, Mr Martin told reporters that Mr Filatov has a "track record" of "attacking the Irish Government".
He added that Ireland was clear that the invasion of Ukraine was a "fundamental, brutal violation of the United Nations Charter. No power can behave in such a manner".
Mr Martin said that he would call on the ambassador to "please bring back a message to the Russian government to please engage [in peace efforts] and stop this war".
The Taoiseach paid tribute to the work of the US President Donald Trump and the Coalition of the Willing in trying to bring about an end to fighting.
In his statement, the Russian Ambassador Yuriy Filatov accused Irish leaders of "whitewashing" adding that they "are unable or, most likely, unwilling to come out of their illusionary world that has nothing to do with the realities of the Ukrainian conflict, instigated and fuelled by the West".
"Only this can explain persistent attempts by Taoiseach Micheál Martin to portray the Zelensky's rule in Ukraine as some sort of a bulwark of democracy at the eastern flank of Europe, resisting the 'imperial aggression' by Russia," Mr Filatov said.
He continued: "It takes a lot of imagination to whitewash in this way the regime which is openly ultra-nationalist, neo-Nazi and dictatorial, which eliminated every trace of democracy in Ukraine by banning opposition parties, free press, human rights, religious freedoms and fair business environment, as evidenced by the developing corruption scandal involving Zelensky's right-hand man Andrey Yermak and others in the top echelon of the Ukrainian government."
During Mr Zelensky's visit, the Taoiseach had said Ireland would continue to support Ukraine "for as long as it takes".
"For as long as Ukraine needs our help and support, Ireland will be there for you," he said. "Your struggle is our struggle. Success be our success. We are with you for as long as it takes."
He added that: "The brutal and illegal war that Russia has waged on Ukraine and that it continues to prosecute, has brought devastation and destruction to people, communities and infrastructure in Ukraine.
"[Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin has shown a complete indifference to the value of human life and to international law and norms," Mr Martin added.
