Philippines willing to buy Russian arms

The Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte has expressed interest in purchasing advanced Russian weaponry to combat terrorism and narcotics trade in his country.

According to Press TV, during a Tuesday meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Duterte said, “I came to secure your support and to confirm our friendship.”

He described Russia as a “reliable partner” and underlined Manila’s willingness to develop ties with Moscow and buy Russian arms.

“Of course, our country needs modern weapons. We had orders in the United States, but now the situation there is not so smooth, and in order to fight with Daesh with their units and factions we need modern weapons,” Duterte said.

The Philippines and the US have downgraded their military ties over Washington’s criticism of Duterte’s trademark war on drugs.

Prior to his Monday arrival in Russia, Duterte had indicated interest in purchasing small arms, helicopters, and fighter jets from Russia for use in the war on drugs and against the militancy in the Philippines.

The Philippines’ president, however, had to fly back home earlier than planned due to skirmishes between Daesh militants and government forces in the south of the county. His meeting with Putin was moved forward from Thursday to Tuesday.

In the meeting, Duterte expressed regret over having to leave Russia earlier than planned to deal with the emerging crisis in his country. He said Daesh had “occupied the [southern] province [of Mindanao], and there are still fighting and clashes there.”

A 60-day martial law has been imposed in the province.

During their meeting at the Kremlin, Putin said, “Of course, cooperation in the military-technical field is possible.”

Putin expressed his condolences to Duterte over the death of three Philippine security forces in clashes with the Daesh-linked Maute terrorist group following their occupation of parts of the Marawi City.

Putin said he and the Russian people “fully understand” why Duterte had to cut his visit short.

The Russian president further said that despite Duterte’s early departure, the two governments would still sign the full set of documents that had been prepared by their respective delegations.

ME