Envoy: Russia has no military interest in SEA

WELCOME TO MOSCOW President Duterte inspects a Russian honor guard with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Vladimirovich Morgulov during military honors for him on his arrival at Vnukovo-2 airport in Moscow on Monday night. Mr. Duterte is in Russia for a four-day official visit. —MALACAÑANG PHOTO

MOSCOW—The interests of the Philippines and Russia are converging, but Moscow has no intention of becoming a military power in the Southeast Asian region even if it is beefing up defense ties with Manila, according to Philippine Ambassador to Russia Carlos Sorreta.

“The Philippine pivot to Russia at the same time, again by coincidence, ends up meeting up with Russia’s rebalance to Asia. I think the timing is great and we should take advantage of that,” Sorreta told reporters covering President Duterte’s visit to Moscow on Tuesday.

He said, however, that the Philippines’ value to Russia was as an economic partner, and Moscow was eager to perk up sluggish trade between the two nations.

Even Russia’s sale of arms to the Philippines would be a purely business transaction, as it would come with no strings attached, Sorreta said.

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Economic relations

“Russia has emphasized economic [relations]. They don’t want to be a military power in our region. They have no interest in competing with the existing power dynamics. They want to engage our region, Southeast Asia, purely on economic, cultural, people-to-people [terms],” he said.

Sorreta also noted that in Southeast Asia, Russia has the lowest engagement with the Philippines, which is why boosting ties with Manila would be one of the “strongest manifestations” of its new emphasis on the region.

The Philippines and Russia are expected to sign a defense cooperation agreement during Mr. Duterte’s visit, but no deals for strategic partnership and joint military exercises are on the table.

Sorreta said the two countries would soon exchange military attachés but this would not be for a “defense presence.”

“I think a military attaché is a good way, for example we want to buy products, he will make sure things are going well,” he said.

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Arms sales to PH

Plans for Moscow to sell weapons to the Philippine military were discussed during Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s visit to Moscow last December.

Sorreta said any Russian weapons sale to the Philippines would be unconditional.

“I think one of the best arguments is there are no conditionalities. The arms will be sold and they trust us to use [them] properly,” he said.

“I have always believed our brave men and women in uniform should not be going to battle carrying arms attached to strings that run all the way to Washington . . . that’s what’s been happening,” he added.

In trade, Sorreta said the Philippines was looking to export agricultural products, especially banana, to Russia.

“Russia is a huge market for bananas. They love bananas. They import one billion dollars worth of bananas a year. One billion, can you imagine that?” he said.

The Philippines exports a few agricultural products to Russia, such as dried mangoes, dessicated coconut, coconut oil and coco sugar.

Mr. Duterte arrived in Moscow past 11 p.m. on Monday (early Tuesday in Manila) for a four-day official visit.

He was welcomed by Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Igor Khoavaev and Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Vladimirovich Morgulov and given military honors at the Vnukovo Airport.

Western ‘double talk’

Mr. Duterte’s trip to Russia is part of his “independent foreign policy” that has seen him shifting away from the United States, the Philippines’ longtime ally, which he has accused of hypocrisy and of meddling in his country’s affairs for criticizing his bloody war on drugs.

He aired similar sentiments against the West in an interview he gave to Russian television network RT before flying to Moscow.

“I am now working on alliance with China, and I hope to start a good working relationship with Russia. Why? Because the Western world, the EU and everything—it’s all this double talk,” he said.

Mr. Duterte has also embraced China as an ally, thanking it profusely for the economic aid and grants it has promised to give the Philippines after his visit to Beijing last October.