After Philippines scraps US defence pact, Rodrigo Duterte eyes Russian arms
- An agreement for Russia to train and arm Philippine defence forces is in the ‘final stages’ of discussions
- Analysts say Duterte’s pivot to Moscow will come at a cost to Washington ties, and is unlikely to serve as a hedge against Beijing
The Duterte administration on Tuesday announced it would terminate the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which sets the terms for joint exercises and engagement of American soldiers in the Philippines, as it seeks to “strengthen our own defences and not rely on any other country”.
On Wednesday, a Russian diplomat in Manila said a joint military technical cooperation agreement was being discussed between officials from the Russian Federation and the Philippines.
Discussions were “now going back and forth between the foreign offices of both countries”, said Denis Karanin, second secretary of the Russian Embassy in Manila, in a rare media briefing arranged by the Philippine Presidential Communications Operations Office. “Someone is offering a draft and there’s a counter-draft. I think it should be somewhere in the final stages already.”
He said the pact would provide the “legal basis” and “framework” for the partnership, and it would “make all sorts of military technical projects easier”.
