Duterte to Putin: We'll buy arms from Russia
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte thanked Russia on Friday for its "timely assistance" in defeating Daesh Takfiri terrorists who had had a southern city under control for months, expressing his willingness to buy Russian weapons.
Duterte told Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam that he wanted to build a strong armed force and a strong police, therefore they would buy arms from Russia after an earlier plan to purchase more than 20,000 assault rifles from the United States was blocked.
China and Russia, whose relations with the Philippines have vastly improved in recent months, donated a total of 11,000 assault rifles and trucks to combat militants in the south. A senior military official told Reuters if the Russians and Chinese equipment could be comparable in quality, then they could be excellent alternatives to US and Western equipment.
Manila and Moscow signed a military deal on logistics, including a contract with a state-owned company for the supply of equipment, during the first-ever visit by a Russian defense minister to the Philippines last month.
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