President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday called for stronger “steady political and security engagement” between ASEAN member-states and Russia, citing the need for coordinated responses to terrorism, trafficking, cybercrime, online scams, and maritime security challenges.
Speaking at the opening of the ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit in Kazan, Russia, Marcos said the 35-year partnership should move beyond commemoration and serve as a platform for more practical cooperation across security, economic, and people-to-people pillars.
“The Philippines approaches this summit not just as a ceremony of commemoration, but as a renewed call to action. Thirty-five years is a foundation. What we build on it is our choice and our responsibility. Let us choose well,” he said.
He said escalating geopolitical uncertainty underscores the need for closer regional coordination, noting that transnational threats “do not respect borders and neither can our responses.”
Marcos urged enhanced cooperation on maritime security and counterterrorism, stronger cyber resilience, and more anticipatory institutional mechanisms.
On the economic agenda, he called for deeper ASEAN-Russia engagement, saying trade and investment flows remain underdeveloped. He pushed for improved trade facilitation, expanded investment links, and closer business-to-business cooperation, including participation from micro, small, and medium enterprises and emerging sectors.
He also emphasized expanded people-to-people exchanges through scholarships, academic partnerships, student mobility, tourism, and cultural programs, calling them central to sustaining long-term ties.
“These are not peripheral to our relationship; they are at its living core,” he said, adding that youth should play a central role in shaping future ASEAN-Russia relations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described ASEAN as a stabilizing force in the Asia-Pacific and a respected global organization grounded in international law and mutual interest. He cited growing cooperation in security, trade, energy, agriculture, digitalization, science and technology, tourism, and humanitarian exchanges.
The Kazan summit is among Russia’s first major multilateral engagements with world leaders since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022.
On the sidelines, Marcos, as ASEAN chair, invited Putin to attend the 21st East Asia Summit in Manila in November.
Marcos is expected to return to Manila on Friday.