Filtered By: Topstories
News

Duterte to break the ice with Russia next week


President Rodrigo Duterte is flying to Russia on May 22 for an official visit, upon the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

At a press briefing in Malacañang on Friday, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Maria Cleofe Natividad of the European Affairs said Duterte will undertake the official visit on May 22-26.

“The Philippines and Russia celebrated 40 years of diplomatic ties last year. But despite of this almost 41 years, our bilateral engagement is still, we can say, at a nascent stage in practically all areas of cooperation. The relations can be best described as cordial albeit modest in scope and depth,” Natividad said.

“Thus, we consider this visit as a landmark that will send a strong message of the Philippines’ commitment to seek new partnerships and strengthen relations with non-traditional partners such as Russia,” she added.

Duterte and Putin will witness the signing of several agreements during the official visit, Natividad said. These include pacts on defense cooperation as well as military and technical cooperation, treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, treaty on extradition, memorandum of agreement on cooperation in the field of security between respective national security councils, as well as agreements on the peaceful use of nuclear energy and culture.

The two Presidents are scheduled to have a bilateral meeting on May 25. Duterte first met his ‘idol’ Putin in November last year in a bilateral meeting in Lima, Peru. They also recently sat next to each other during the gala dinner of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China a few days ago.

Duterte will also have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev whom he met during the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos in September 2016.

Natividad said that Duterte will also deliver a policy speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

“In that event, we expect the President to articulate his administration’s commitment to pursue an independent foreign policy that is anchored foremost on national interest considerations,” she said.

As always, Duterte will also meet with the Filipino community. There are around 5,000 Filipinos in Russia. Natividad said that Duterte garnered 75 percent of the votes from Russia-based overseas Filipinos during the May 2016 elections.

Duterte is also scheduled to travel to St. Petersburg to visit a military shipyard and attend a business forum.

"At the moment, Russian investments in the Philippines are very modest. And with this visit of the President, we hope we can start to correct that," she said.

Natividad said the last Filipino president that the Russian government invited to Moscow was former President Fidel Ramos. However, former president and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former President Benigno Aquino III were able to visit Russia to attend international events. — RSJ, GMA News

LOADING CONTENT