Marcos in Russia: Bilateral with Putin, energy and food security focus

MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will be traveling to Russia to attend a commemorative summit to celebrate the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Russia’s 35 years of ties. Marcos will also have a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit.

Marcos and his delegation, which includes Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro and officials from the trade department, will be in Kazan, Russia, from June 17 to 19 for the summit.

“The meeting will bring together the leaders of ASEAN and Russia, to commemorate 35 years of dialogue relations and to chart the future direction of this partnership,” Department of Foreign Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary Dominic Xavier Imperial, spokesperson for ASEAN, said in a June 15 briefing.

Marcos will be co-chairing the summit as ASEAN chair alongside Putin.

“The ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit holds particular significance for the Philippines. It will mark President Marcos’ first visit to the Russian Federation as president. Set in the midst of the 50 years of diplomatic relations this year between the Philippines and Russia,” Imperial said.

What will be discussed?

During the ASEAN-Russia Summit, the bloc and Moscow are expected to “further strengthen cooperation in areas of mutual trust” to include:

• bio-safety and biosecurity
• outer space and satellite applications
• energy and food security
• science and technology
• trade and investment
• tourism
• education
• people-to-people exchanges

ASEAN and Russia are expected to adopt outcome documents to include:

• The Kazan Declaration 2026, “which will articulate the shared vision of ASEAN and Russia as we commemorate 35 years of partnership as well as joint statements on energy and on cultural cooperation”
• The ASEAN-Russia Comprehensive Plan of Action 2026-2030, “which will serve as the principal roadmap for advancing cooperation across the political security, economic and sociocultural pillars of the partnership”

The phrase “areas of mutual trust” is doing a lot of heavy lifting, especially if you factor in ASEAN’s other dialogue partners. Russia has been a full dialogue partner of ASEAN since 1996. It is one of 11 in a list that includes the United States and the European Union.

The summit is happening even as Russia continues to wage war on Ukraine — a conflict where, some observers say, Kyiv has slowly gained the upper hand. Russia is still the subject of sanctions from the West, notably by the US and EU.

Waivers on sanctions are needed to be able to purchase oil from Russia — a pass the Philippines negotiated from the US amid the latter and Israel’s war on Iran and its subsequent effect on the oil market.

Unsurprisingly, Moscow’s protracted war on Kyiv will not be on the table.

“Regarding the outcome documents that will come out of the summit, certainly we’re just focusing on areas of cooperation…there won’t be any statement or declaration when it comes to Ukraine. I won’t be able to also guess or preempt what the other leaders will be raising during the summit so—but, what I can share with you is that there will be discussions on regional and international issues during the summit,” Imperial said.

In 2022, ASEAN foreign ministers expressed “[deep concern] over the evolving situation and armed hostilities in Ukraine.” The ASEAN, then chaired by Cambodia, said in their statement: “For peace, security, and harmonious co-existence to prevail, it is the responsibility of all parties to uphold the principles of mutual respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and equal rights of all nation.”

Myanmar, a country whose participation in ASEAN has been constrained, is ASEAN’s country-coordinator for ASEAN-Russia dialogue relations. Before ASEAN, Naypyidaw is represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Political leaders — the junta after the 2021 military takeover and even after the 2025 elections — are not invited to leaders-level meetings under ASEAN.

Bilateral with Putin

It will not just be the ASEAN-Russia Summit that ASEAN and Philippine partners — especially like-minded Philippine partners — will be paying close attention to. Marcos’ meeting with Putin, the first ever since he assumed the presidency, will also be a meeting to monitor, if not to show silent concern over.

“The discussions will center on the commemoration of the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Russia. The meeting will likewise provide an opportunity to explore ways to further strengthen cooperation in areas of mutual interest particularly energy security and food security,” said Imperial of Marcos’ meeting with Putin.

Manila wants to frame the Marcos-Putin summit as a tribute to decades of bilateral ties and a benefit to the region. The DFA also wants to frame the meeting in the context of the ASEAN chairship.

“Of course, it’s 35 years of celebration of the relations so we’re looking at, you know, pursuing the interests across all the three pillars of political security, economic, and sociocultural. So, these are areas of cooperation where the Philippines actually benefits as well as the region. So, also taking into consideration that Russia has long been…for years a dialogue partner of ASEAN. So, with that role, the Philippines as chair, it is our role to be able to pursue these external relations with our dialogue partners,” said Imperial.

Russian oil has been a lifeline for the Philippines, particularly in the immediate aftermath of the US and Israel’s attack on Iran, and Tehran’s subsequent decision to close down the Strait of Hormuz, where most oil and petroleum products destined for Asia pass through.

Before February 2026, the Philippines sourced nearly all of its crude oil and petroleum needs from the Middle East. The virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the subsequent effect of the war on global oil supply and prices meant, for Manila, a sharp increase in the price of gas and basic commodities.

Imperial declined to speculate on whether the Philippines sees Russia in terms of a longer-term supply of energy. But doing so, presumably, would mean negotiating extended waivers. – Rappler.com