MANILA – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to tackle energy security and food security issues with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a bilateral meeting during the 35th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - Russia Commemorative Summit, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday.
The discussions are expected to cover issues on oil, natural gas and nuclear energy, said Dominic Xavier Imperial, Deputy Assistant Secretary for ASEAN Affairs.
“I would go back to the impact of the Middle East on energy security and food security so I think that would be the highlight of this meeting,” he said in a Palace briefing.
“Of course we’re looking at people-to-people, tourism, education, cultural cooperation. Especially–also on science and technology–so these areas will be discussed or will play a part in the bilateral meeting between the two leaders,” he said.
Russia’s oil and natural gas revenues account for a quarter of the federation’s state funds, but sanctions from the United States and the European Union – its former biggest oil buyer – has led to a slump in Eurasia’s largest economy.
Aside from sanctions over Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, drone strikes from the war have also hurt 40 percent of Russia’s oil exporting capacity, according to data from the ASEAN Secretariat.
In mid-March, the Philippines bought 1.5 million barrels of oil from Russia after the US issued a 30-day waiver for countries to procure Russian petroleum products after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz where 20 percent of the world’s oil supply passes through.
“It will cover several other areas, when it comes to energy… In fact, even going beyond nuclear energy, even the civilian uses of nuclear energy might be some of the areas of discussions during this summit and also the bilateral meeting between the President and President Putin,” Imperial said.
“We also would like to push support for the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Petroleum Security, also the ASEAN Power Grid so those already existing mechanisms that we have, those might as well would be discussed, getting support for those, for us to be able to continue with our purpose to be able to become resilient,” he said.
In February 2025, the ASEAN and Russia finalized its Prospects of Cooperation in Civilian Nuclear Energy and Technologies, which “highlights the partnership in advancing civilian nuclear energy as part of regional cooperation in energy, innovation and technology.”
Marcos will also lead ASEAN’s 10 other leaders in the commemorative summit, where discussions to further cooperation on “bio-safety and biosecurity, outer space and satellite applications, energy and food security, science and technology, trade and investment, tourism, education, and people-to-people exchanges” are expected to take center stage.
When asked how Manila is bracing for possible criticisms over its push to forge closer ties with Moscow while other nations have been imposing sanctions to deter its invasion of Ukraine, the DFA official said that it expects no issues as even Singapore — an ASEAN member that imposed sanctions against Russia — has committed to attend the June 17-18 summit in Kazan.
Russia has been ASEAN’s dialogue partner since July 1991, with both parties elevating their relationship to a “strategic partnership” in November 2018, according to data from the ASEAN Secretariat.
“Russia is a dialogue partner of ASEAN and so there is that already an acceptance among other countries that we will continue to pursue,” Imperial said.
“Guided by ASEAN centrality we will continue to pursue our relations with each dialogue partner including Russia and also taking into consideration the broader perspective of looking at it in such a way that each country would have of course their own national interest and so it is their prerogative for them to decide on whether they would like to pursue something with Russia or not pursue with Russia,” he added.
As of 2024, the total trade between ASEAN and Russia is pegged at $18.13 billion, making the Eurasian giant the 10th largest trading partner of the 11-member regional bloc.
While the ASEAN-Russia Strategic Program on Trade and Investment Cooperation for 2026-2035 has yet to be finalized, the parties are looking to increase bilateral trade to $45 billion by 2035.
Philippines eyeing Russian oil– Marcos
Despite foreign sanctions vs Moscow, Palace says PH looking to deepen ties with Russia