Lorenzana says spillover of Ukraine-Russia conflict to Philippines is remote
MANILA, Philippines — The possibility of the Ukraine-Russia conflict spilling over to the Philippines is remote despite the country's military agreements with the US, the defense department said Thursday.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the Philippines is far from the site of the clashes, which were triggered by Russia's invasion.
"I discussed that with the president, especially during the command conference. He asked, 'Are we in danger of being dragged into that?' Because he said he allowed the US to use Clark in case it goes to war," Lorenzana said in Filipino during an interview with state-run People's Television.
"I told him, 'Mr. President, that's probably far from happening because first, we are far (from the site of the conflict). If America needs a place for its equipment and personnel before getting involved in Ukraine, there are nearby countries for that,' So I said we may not be dragged into it," he added.
Lorenzana noted that South Korea, Turkey and other countries with North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces are nearer Ukraine compared to the Philippines.
"If ever the president offers Clark to them (US), it's very unlikely that they would position several troops and equipment here," the defense chief added.
In his recent speeches, Duterte warned that there would be "serious trouble" if the conflict in Ukraine escalates into a nuclear war. He claimed that China, an ally of Russia, would not sit idly and may seize Taiwan if it decides to be involved in the war. The president said the Philippines would be affected by such a development because there are American troops based in the country.
Duterte echoed the concern during the inauguration of the New Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila last Wednesday.
"Even this ruckus in Ukraine, let's pray that it will not degenerate into something like a nuclear warfare. We will be finished. We will be finished because China would not stand idly and allow Russia. You know why? When I was in China, (Chinese President) Xi Jinping was frank with me and said we will not allow our ally, most important ally, Russia," the president said.
"There were already bickerings and rumblings and everything... But if it goes nuclear, we would be hit. Why? The Americans are here. They never left Clark and Subic, he added, referring to the sites of former US bases.
Duterte said Filipinos would never know if the Americans based in the country brought with them nuclear armaments.
"Keep that in mind because it's really dangerous. He (Russian President Vladimir Putin) will just push the button and that's it. We will face difficulties. We will have a dry season in our life," he added.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday secured Turkey's crucial backing for Ukraine's NATO aspirations after winning a US pledge for cluster munitions that could inflict massive damage on Russian forces on the battlefield.
Washington's decision to deliver the controversial weapons — banned across a large part of the world but not in Russia or Ukraine — dramatically ups the stakes in the war, which entered its 500th day Saturday.
Zelensky has been travelling across Europe trying to secure bigger and better weapons for his outmatched army, which has launched a long-awaited counteroffensive that is progressing less swiftly than Ukraine's allies had hoped. — AFP
Washington's decision to supply Ukraine with ATACMS long-range missiles is "a grave mistake", Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov says Wednesday.
"The White House's decision to send long-range missiles to Ukrainians is a grave mistake. The consequences of this step, which was deliberately hidden from the public, will be of the most serious nature," he says in a statement. — AFP
President Vladimir Putin says Sunday that Russian forces had made gains in their Ukraine offensive including in Avdiivka, a symbolic industrial hub.
"Our troops are improving their position in almost all of this area, which is quite vast," he says in an interview on Russian television, an extract of which was posted on social media on Sunday. "This concerns the areas of Kupiansk, Zaporizhia and Avdiivka." — AFP
The regional governor says debris from a drone destroyed over the Russian region of Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, fell on homes and killed three people, including a young child.
The air defense system "shot down an aircraft-type UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) approaching the city", says Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, adding that the falling debris destroyed several homes.
"Most importantly, three people were killed, one of them a small child," he writes on the Telegram messaging app, accompanied by pictures of a house reduced to a pile of rubble behind red and white police tape. — AFP
Ukraine's air force says on Tuesday that it had destroyed 27 of 36 Russian attack drones overnight in the south of the country.
Ukrainian forces downed 27 "Shahed-136/131" drones in the southern Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa regions, the air force said on the messaging platform Telegram.
In all, Moscow had launched 36 of the Iranian-made drones from the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014, it says. — AFP
The Kremlin claims on Friday Russian forces never targeted civilian infrastructure after Ukraine blamed Moscow for a missile attack that killed over 50 people in the eastern village of Groza.
"We repeat that the Russian military does not strike civilian targets. Strikes are carried out on military targets, on places where military personnel are concentrated," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says in his daily briefing. — AFP
- Latest
- Trending
