Marcos-Putin talks: Energy, food and possible nuclear opening

MANILA, Philippines — Energy and food security will be top of the agenda when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kazan this week, with civilian nuclear cooperation also expected to come up, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday, June 15.

The talks come as Manila pursues closer ties with Moscow while global powers have tightened sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine. This campaign has seen the Kremlin increasingly rely on China, India and other non-Western buyers to purchase its oil exports.  

Marcos will co-chair the ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit with Putin on June 17 and 18, the first in-person ASEAN-Russia leaders' summit in about six years. 

The two will hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines centered on the 50th anniversary of Philippines-Russia diplomatic relations and on energy and food cooperation.

"The meeting will most likely focus on food security and energy security," Dominic Xavier Imperial, the DFA spokesperson for ASEAN 2026, told reporters at a Malacañang briefing. 

He called the two areas "mutually important" for Manila and Moscow.

Energy talks will not stop at oil and natural gas, Imperial said. Civilian nuclear cooperation — a long-standing Russian pitch to Southeast Asia — is on the table, both at the summit and in the bilateral talks.   

"Even going beyond nuclear energy, even the civilian use of nuclear energy might be some of the areas of discussions during this summit, and also the bilateral meeting between the President and President Putin," Imperial said. 

"We also would like to push support for the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Petroleum Security, also the ASEAN Power Grid," he added.

Imperial declined to confirm whether Manila is eyeing Russian crude to diversify its sources amid tensions in the Strait of Hormuz. Asked whether Russia could become a long-term oil supplier for the country, he said: "Since the focus will be on energy security, of course anything can be discussed under that area or agenda."

A delegation built for trade

Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro will travel with the president, along with a "very small delegation" from the Department of Trade and Industry, Imperial said.

Both sides are expected to adopt the Kazan Declaration 2026, joint statements on energy and cultural cooperation, and the ASEAN-Russia Comprehensive Plan of Action 2026-2030.

The trip will be Marcos' first to Russia as president and falls during the 50th year of Philippines-Russia diplomatic relations, marked June 2.

About 15,000 Filipinos live in Russia, most in the service sector, Imperial said, with some working as engineers and teachers. 

No statement on Ukraine

Marcos heads to Kazan more than four years since Russia marched to occupy parts of Ukraine, which has drawn the most Western sanctions ever on a major power.

The summit is not expected to produce an outcome document on the war, Imperial said.

Ukraine has long pushed ASEAN to take a tougher stance on Russia. In November 2022, then-Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba flew to the ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh to sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, a mostly symbolic move. The bloc could not agree that year on whether to let Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy join the summit by video.  

The bloc to this day remains split. Most ASEAN members have voted at the United Nations to condemn Russia's February 2022 invasion, but Vietnam and Laos — two longtime Russian allies — have abstained. The Philippines has been firmer than most and has been among the few ASEAN members to back the strongest UN measures against Moscow, including a 2022 motion to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. 

Asked Monday how Manila is bracing for potential criticism from Western partners, Imperial said each country has its own national interest and that ASEAN's collective engagement with Russia is "moving forward."

The United States, the EU, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and Australia have rolled out successive rounds of sanctions targeting Russian banks and Kremlin officials since the February 2022 invasion.

Singapore — breaking with ASEAN's long-standing non-interference posture — imposed its own sanctions on Russia weeks after its invasion.

A global oil supply shortage caused by the war in the Middle East forced the Philippines to purchase crude oil from Russia earlier this year. Petron Corporation procured 2.48 million barrels of crude, with the first shipment having arrived in March.