Putin to visit PHL upon Duterte’s invitation —envoy

Russian President Vladimir Putin will be visiting the Philippines for the first time after being invited by President Rodrigo Duterte, Moscow's envoy said Saturday.

"President Duterte officially invited President Putin to visit the Philippines," Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Igor Khovaev said during the "In Focus" news forum in Quezon City.

The envoy, however, said he was not in a position to share details or specific dates of the visit.

"The invitation of President Duterte was accepted by President Putin with gratitude," Khovaev said.

"At this moment, I can only express my hope that this visit will be paid as soon as possible. When? I don't know, but we will do our best to arrange his visit as soon as possible," he said.

Duterte has visited Russia twice since assuming the presidency in 2016.

His first state visit was in May 2017 but was cut short due to the fall of Marawi city and to supervise government efforts to crush militants led by the Maute group.

The Philippine leader visited Russia for the second time early this month upon the invitation of Putin.

The Philippines signed P620 million worth of business deals with Russia during Duterte's five-day official visit to the country. — MDM, GMA News