Yasay meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines' top diplomat met with his Russian counterpart in Moscow on Monday to discuss the current state of bilateral relations between the two countries.

The meeting between Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov came after the meeting between President Rodrigo Duterte and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Lima, Peru a few weeks ago.

On his first visit to Moscow, Yasay and his Russian counterpart discussed regional and global issues including the Philippine chairmanship of Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2017.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Yasay and Lavrov discussed the prospects to enhance cooperation in various areas such as the political, security, economic, cultural and people-to-people spheres.

The two ministers also agreed to start the preparations for the proposed visit of Duterte in Russia next year.

Yasay said that his meeting in Russia is part of the administration's effort to strengthen Philippine-Russia bilateral partnership.

The Foreign Affairs chief earlier said that the meetings between Duterte and Putin would boost the relationship between the two countries.

Duterte considers Putin and himself as "fast friends" when they met for the first time in Peru. The president said that Putin has invited him to visit Russia.