President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday described the proposed petroleum arrangement with Russia as far from settled, pointing to a web of diplomatic sensitivities that Manila must weigh before committing to any formal supply deal.
Speaking to reporters at the close of a two-day visit, the President stressed that nothing had been locked in. “The possible oil supply deal between the Philippines and Russia “has yet to be decided,” he said, cautioning that the matter carried weight beyond ordinary commerce. “There are, of course, political considerations – geopolitical considerations,” he added.
A central worry, Marcos acknowledged, is how deeper commercial ties with Moscow might be read abroad. He conceded there was “certainly a concern” that closer dealings could feed a narrative of Manila helping bankroll Russia’s campaign in Ukraine. Being cast as an indirect backer of the conflict, he said, “is not something we would like to be accused of.”
The President framed that caution against the country’s self-image on the world stage. “The Philippines is one of the — if not the greatest — sponsor, supporter for peace not only in the region but in the world,” he said, adding that the government intends to tread carefully: “We will just have to be very careful to make sure that we are not inadvertently becoming part of the system that supports war in any way.”
Even so, Marcos signaled optimism that obstacles could be overcome where both sides shared the will. “But… when two parties are determined to make it work, I’m always very confident that it will work and we will find a way around those challenges and those complications so that we make it a reality,” he said. He noted that the complexity should not be underestimated: “There are many complications to that. It is not that simple, a signing a trade agreement.”
To date, the relationship has run on improvisation rather than structure. Marcos said the two governments have operated case by case while working toward a durable mechanism for sourcing fuel from Russia. “There have been no firm agreements, but merely an understanding that we will continue to develop what we had already started as a response to the oil crisis that was the effect of the war in the Middle East which we are hoping will come to an end soon,” he said.
He characterized Russian President Vladimir Putin as receptive during their exchanges. “I can say that President Putin, the Russian Federation’s was very open to any kind of suggestion that we do increase that engagement and that we look further into supplying, getting our supplies of petroleum products from Russia,” Marcos said.
The pivot toward Moscow, the President argued, reflects a changed international order rather than a break from old friendships. Asked what pushed Manila closer to Russia despite its long alliance with Washington, he said the country was “just responding, adjusting to the new reality” in which states “no longer subscribes to a bipolar world where you have to choose one side over the other.”
That theme, he said, ran through his discussions at the summit. “During this summit, there was a lot of talk about multipolarity… the multipolar world that we now have to deal with, which may be a little bit more complex, but it also provides more opportunities than we had before,” the President said.
The backdrop to those talks is a wave of Western pressure on Moscow. Since Russian forces moved into Ukraine in early 2022, the United States, the European Union and Singapore have been among the governments levying sanctions and tightening trade against Russia — the same restrictions that now shadow any Philippine attempt to formalize oil purchases from the Eurasian state.
