Philippines, Russia vow stronger defense cooperation

SOCHI – President Duterte and Russian  President Vladimir Putin last night agreed to pursue stronger defense cooperation  between their countries to fight terrorism following their bilateral meeting here at the Polyana Hotel.

Since his visit in May 2017, Duterte said he had always looked forward to returning to Russia “to build a robust and comprehensive partnership.”

For his part, Putin noted how Duterte’s personal focus on strengthening bilateral relations has led to better cooperation between the two countries.

“As for our bilateral relationship, I would like to highlight that the Philippines is a very important partner of Russia in Asia. Our bilateral cooperation is constructive and mutually beneficial,” Putin said.

At the start of the meeting, Putin reiterated to Duterte that Russia is prepared to help in countering terrorism, among areas of cooperation.

“We are prepared in developing our partnership when it comes to countering terrorists,” Putin said as he recalled how Duterte had cut short his first trip here in 2017 amid the Marawi seige.

“I would like to highlight your contribution into expanding the multifaceted cooperation between Russia and the Philippines. And in large part due to your personal attention, we have revitalized our political dialect. We have reached lots of success in our trade and economic cooperation,” the Russian leader said.

 Duterte and Putin’s meeting came a day after the Philippine leader met with Russian Prime Minster Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow.

Last year, Putin noted that trade between his country and the Philippines had doubled. 

“So it was more than $1.2 billion. And Russian export also grew four-fold. We have major reserves in place and Russian companies are ready to increase the supplies of energy, aircraft, transport, special equipment,” he said.

Putin also expressed interest in increasing bilateral cooperation in space exploration and the use of digital technologies.

He also thanked Duterte for his participation at the Valdai Conference.

Duterte and Putin shook hands before the meeting attended by their respective Cabinet officials.

In his remarks, Duterte  pushed for defense, security, military and technical cooperation with Moscow.

“We’ve also made a historic first in the key strategic areas – from economic, defense security and military technical cooperation,” he said.

He noted that the docking of the Philippine Navy’s BRP Tarlac in Vladivostok in 2018 was a landmark for bilateral relations.

Since his foreign policy pivot to non-Western states, Duterte noted how Philippine officials and their Russian counterparts have met regularly on defense, security and law enforcement matters.

Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev had previously expressed his government’s readiness to provide the Philippine military with Russian military hardware, including the AK-47 or Kalashnikov rifle.

The Philippines’ defense agreement with its treaty ally the United States as well as US-backed international sanctions on Russia, however, have prevented such deals from pushing through.

It is unclear how stronger defense cooperation with Russia would be worked out by a US treaty ally.