KAZAN, Russia — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrived in Kazan City on Wednesday for a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin before leading the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - Russia Commemorative Summit, where possible deals on trade and energy are expected to be forged.
Marcos and Putin will engage in discussions on oil, nuclear energy and trade, among other issues several hours before the two leaders join other ASEAN heads of government in a gala dinner to mark the 35 years of dialogue relations between the 11-member regional bloc and Eurasia’s largest country.
“The meeting will most likely focus on food security and energy security… They will also discuss among others some very important regional international issues that both would consider important for the relationship,” Dominic Xavier Imperial, Deputy Assistant Secretary for ASEAN Affairs, said in an earlier press conference.
“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.
Manila and Moscow are “looking also into the deepening of the relations… when it comes to other cooperation, of course we’re looking at people-to-people, tourism, education, cultural cooperation – those things, especially also on science and technology,” he said.
Imperial declined to “preempt the results of this bilateral meeting” but noted the importance for Marcos and Putin to “be able to sit down and discuss these priority areas.”
“It will be good for some outcome document to come out of this meeting in Kazan.”
Marcos’ first official trip to the oil-rich country comes about 4 months after the prices of petroleum spiked globally following Iran’s decision to close the Strait of Hormuz, where 20 percent of the world’s oil supply passes through.
The Philippines has been pushing to diversify its sources of oil after the war between US-Israeli and Iranian forces damaged oil facilities in the Gulf, exposing the Philippines vulnerability to oil supply and price shocks.
Marcos, who has been pushing for the use of nuclear energy to tame one of the highest energy rates in Southeast Asia, is also expected to discuss how Russia can help the Philippines use nuclear power for civilian purposes.
The meeting between Marcos and Putin is also expected to benefit some 15,000 Filipinos living and working in Russia, Imperial said.
“We are assured that we do not only benefit from this people-to-people exchange but we are also assured that our kababayans in Russia will be given—you know, their rights will be accorded proper respect because of our relations with Russia,” he said.
UKRAINE NOT PART OF OFFICIAL AGENDA
Meanwhile, Russia’s four-year war with Ukraine is not officially part of the agenda, but there is a chance for Marcos or other Southeast Asian leaders to bring it up during the series of meetings in the 35th ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit on June 18, the Deputy Assistant Secretary said.
“There won’t be any statement or declaration when it comes to Ukraine,” Imperial said.
“It’s hard to say whether that issue will be discussed because after all, as a Summit, we see the leaders coming together, they’ll be sitting down, but as regards an outcome document, certainly there won’t be any,” he said.
In February 2022, less than a decade after seizing parts of the Crimean peninsula, Putin ordered hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers to march into Ukraine, and controlled the Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine.
The United States, the European Union and Singapore have described Putin’s move as an “unprovoked invasion” and launched trade and economic sanctions against Russia.
The Philippines is not expecting any issues to arise over Marcos’ decision to forge closer relations with sanction-ridden Russia, Imperial said.
“Russia is a dialogue partner of ASEAN and so there is that already an acceptance among other countries that we will continue to pursue,” he said.
“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.”
Russia has been ASEAN’s dialogue partner since July 1991, with both parties upgrading their relations into a strategic partnership in November 2018.