MANILA – Rodrigo Duterte will have a chance to meet his idol Russian President Vladimir Putin once again after the latter accepted the former’s invitation for a state visit in the Philippines.
Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Igor Khovaev said in a forum last Saturday that Putin will be visiting the country for the first time in the country upon President Duterte’s invitation.
“President Duterte officially invited President Putin to visit the Philippines,” Khovaev said. “The invitation of President Duterte was accepted by President Putin with gratitude.”
While there was no definite date yet on when will be Putin’s visit in the Philippines will take place, Khovaev said that the Russian Embassy will try to arrange it as soon as possible.
“At this moment, I can only express my hope that this visit will be paid as soon as possible. When? I don’t know, but we will do our best to arrange his visit as soon as possible,” he said.
This will be the third meeting between Duterte and Putin. The first time was when Duterte flew to Russia in May 2017 but it was cut short because of the Marawi City siege.
President Duterte returned to Russia earlier this month on Putin’s invitation. The government said the Philippines and Russia signed P620 million worth of deals during Duterte’s five-day official trip./PN
