President Rodrigo Roa Duterte meets with Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow prior to his return to the Philippines. President Duterte on May 24, 2017 opted to skip his scheduled engagements and cut short his official visit to the Russian Federation immediately after declaring a state of Martial Law in Mindanao due to the terror crisis that gripped Marawi City.(MNS photo)
MOSCOW, May 25 (Mabuhay) — President Rodrigo Duterte met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin shortly before his scheduled departure for the Philippines.
The two leaders smiled and shook hands with each other upon meeting.
Putin returned to Moscow Tuesday evening to meet the Philippine President, who cut short his visit because of a terror attack in Marawi.
Duterte explained the reason for his abrupt departure, saying he had a problem with the ISIS and had to head home to attend to the urgent matter.
He offered friendship to Putin and assured the Russian President that the Philippines has gone beyond the ambit of western influence.
He asked for a soft loan as well, saying the United States had cancelled the Philippines’ arms purchase from it.
Putin, in turn, condoled with Duterte for the Marawi attack and hoped that it would be resolved with minimum losses.
He also vowed improved relations with the Philippines.
They could cooperate in the military sphere, he said.
Other promising areas of cooperation were energy, machine building, and infrastructure, he said. (MNS)