Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — A Russian senator is in the country to meet with President Rodrigo Duterte and fellow lawmakers, with the aim of setting the foundation for renewed ties between Manila and Moscow.
Senator Andrey Klimov, deputy chair of Russia’s Senate Committee on International Affairs, met with the President in Malacanang on Monday. He described the talks as “very open and very fruitful.”
He will also meet Senate President Koko Pimentel and other members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his short, two-day visit.
“I believe that after these two days, we will have better mutual understanding, and we can have a kind of draft of our roadmap for our bilateral cooperation and cooperation in the international arena,” Klimov told CNN Philippines on Monday.
Klimov said bilateral relations will range from trade and investment, to defense and technology.
“We can offer to your country not just words but very concrete technologies, very concrete assistance,” he said.
In particular, Russia can export mining and agriculture technologies to the country to help process raw materials with better quality and lower cost.
Russia also specializes in clean energy technology — particularly in hydro and nuclear power — as well as information technology and space technology.
Economic ties between Manila and Moscow are at their infancy. Russia has not had any foreign direct investment in the Philippines since 1999, central bank data showed.
Russia accounted for $43 million in overseas remittances last year, but it was only 0.2 percent of the total $26.9 billion sent home by Filipinos from all over the world.
More than economic links, though, all eyes will be on military support. Russian warships visited the Philippines in January, and Duterte toured the ships himself.
Defense officials have also said they were looking into possible joint exercises and weapons deals with the Kremlin.
Klimov said, “If somebody would like to have something from Russia, we are ready to sell it based on international law and based on our legal cooperation in this very sensitive sphere.”
He declined to give details, though, saying talks are still ongoing. Any deals will likely be finalized in May when Duterte visits Moscow and meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We hope that the meeting will usher in a new epoch in Russian and Philippine relations,” the senator said.
The Kremlin already has strong links with other Asian developing countries like Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, he explained. It now wants the same kind of relationship with the Philippines.
“We would like to have as many friends as possible,” Klimov said.
Russia has historically been much closer to Europe, but he noted the Asia-Pacific region was fast emerging as a hub for political and economic activity.
“We would like to have a balance. And we’d like to have our participation in this area equal to the potential to the area,” he said.
He stressed though, that Russia’s closeness with the Philippines should not be interpreted as a banding together against other countries.
The Philippines has rekindled ties with Russia as well as China under the administration of Duterte. The President has previously said he saw the three countries banding together “against the world.”
He has gone as far as to say it would be a show of force against the United States. But he has since softened his stance, saying the Philippines only wanted to “rebalance” its relations with other countries.
