By Alexis Romero and Edith Regalado
MOSCOW – The Philippines may be acquiring weapons from Russia, but the two countries will not forge a strategic security alliance and will only focus on boosting economic ties, an envoy said yesterday.
Philippine Ambassador Carlos Sorreta said Russia has no plans of becoming a military power in the region and that its pivot to Asia is geared toward strengthening economic relationships.
“They just want a good relationship, a very respectful one. Right now, they want to start heavily on the economic and then eventually on security,” Sorreta said in a press conference here yesterday.
“They don’t want to be a military power in our region. They have no interest in competing with the existing power dynamics. They want to engage our region, Southeast Asia, purely on economic, cultural, people-to-people.”
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