Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have got each other's back. The leaders on 19 November met and got out their frustration over the United States and its "hippocratic" policies.
Duterte who always looked up to Putin was very pleased to meet him on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Lima, Peru and ranted about his disliking towards US's "bullying" nature. He has also said that the west is a warmonger and terrorises smaller nations.
"And they seem to start a war but are afraid to go to war. That is what is wrong with America and the others. They've been waging wars in so many places -- in Vietnam, in Afghanistan and in Iraq for one single reason that there was a weapon of mass destruction, and there was none," said Duterte, according to Agence France-Presse.
During his 45-minute meeting with the Russian president, Duterte applauded his leadership skill and expressed his admiration for him. This is the first time that the two leaders have met.
However, Duterte has expressed his admiration for the Russian leader along with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier and called them his heroes. He also said that Putin, the no-nonsense leader, have a similar passion for guns and women like him.
In the meeting, Duterte further told Putin that he has broken away from the US and shifted his allegiance to China and Russia. He also expressed his displeasure with the fact that the US "forced" the Philippines to contribute soldiers in its wars in Vietnam and Iraq.
According to reports, he said that the US "made it hard for us," when Manila, which was a part of the US-led coalition against Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2004, pulled out non-combat troops after it was threatened with the beheading of a kidnapped Filipino worker.
On the other hand, Russian President Putin, recalling 40 years of diplomatic ties between the two nations, welcomed the chance to talk to Duterte. Moreover, Putin has also invited his Filipino counterpart to visit Russia, said Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay.
"Russian President Putin has formally extended an invitation for the President to go to Russia, which will be preceded by a trip that I will have to undertake there this December," said Yasay, according to reports.
"I look forward for a more optimistic and closer and detailed discussions of the President with the head of state of Russia. And that will mark the beginning of our entering into various agreements to achieve our goals," he added.
