MANILA, Philippines — Aside from Americans, Filipino troops will soon find themselves jointly training with their Russian counterparts as defense relations and cooperation between Russia and the Philippines level up.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, currently on an official visit in Moscow, told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City that the joint training was among the defense and military matters taken up during his meeting with the deputy of Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoyu.
“We discussed military-to-military relations and exchanges in military training, port visits of both navies and participation in military exercises,” Lorenzana said.
A Philippine Navy warship is scheduled for a historic port call on the city of Vladivostok in late September.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is holding joint military exercises with the United States under the auspices of the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the two allied states.
Other allies, including Australia and Japan, are now actively participating in the joint annual drill but only in limited capacity.
Defense officials considered Lorenzana’s visit to Moscow as a milestone in the defense relations between Russia and the Philippines that came to fore under President Duterte’s independent foreign policy.