Duterte visits Russia again after first trip cut short

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday embarked on a five-day official visit to Russia, where he will meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss enhanced co-operation between the two countries.The trip is Duterte’s second visit to Russia, with the first in May 2017 cut short due to a siege by militants on a southern city that prompted the president to impose martial law in the southern region of Mindanao.The siege lasted for five months and martial law is still in effect until the end of the year.“I welcome this second visit as an important opportunity to further broaden and deepen our engagement with a country we share key strategic interests with both bilaterally and in the larger Asia-Pacific region,” Duterte said before he left for Russia.Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who is travelling with Duterte, said he expects the Russian officials to offer various defence equipment during the trip.“They will (offer us) their equipment: transport helicopters, attack helicopters, multi-role fighters, ships, drones, tanks, etc,” Lorenzana told reporters. “They will give us a catalogue of their products for our consideration.”Duterte has in the past thanked Russia for providing military hardware to the Philippines to help battle the Islamic State-allied militants in Mindanao. While in Russia, Duterte will also address a plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club tomorrow and attend a Philippines-Russia business forum to promote trade and investment between the two countries.Duterte said the Valdai forum would be an opportunity for him to reiterate his his foreign policy stance, which is “one that is based on respect for sovereignty and non-interference, the time-honoured principles of international law.”“Apparently this most basic principle of a rule that governs the relations between nations has been forgotten by some in some parts of the world,” he said.Duterte added that under the policy, the Philippines is able to build partnerships with nations that used to be in the margins of the country’s foreign policy.“(Geopolitical) realities and global developments require that nations like ours should have an agile foreign policy,” he said.“While it is true that we value our long-standing partners, we must also be open to engage new ones.”“For the longest time, we have placed key nations at the margins of our foreign policy, failing to fully explore the potentials of mutually beneficial co-operation,” he added. “With our independent foreign policy, we can say with much optimism that these are new and promising times.”Duterte is also scheduled to give a lecture at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and meet with the Filipino community before returning to the Philippines on October 5.