Russia Ready to Help Philippines on Energy, Fuel Crisis

Russia is ready to cooperate with the Philippines to help temper rising fuel prices and address other issues concerning the energy sector, its ambassador told president-elect Bongbong Marcos during their meeting on Monday.

Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Marat Pavlov paid a courtesy visit to the incoming president to discuss areas in which the two countries can cooperate.

"During the meeting, we discussed this area of cooperation, and we found out that in this turbulent period of our life, the Russian Federation could extend its hand to help the Philippines in much needed oil, gas and other sources of energies," Pavlov said in an interview with the media following the meeting.

READ: How the Russia-Ukraine Conflict Could Hurt Filipino Consumers

"We are ready to cooperate with the Philippine side and to extend our helping hands to satisfy the needs in sources of energy and we decided to continue our discussion a little bit further," he added.

Fuel prices have been on the rise since the beginning of the year as a result of the continuing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which causes disruptions in global trade.

Pump prices are set to increase for the second straight week on Tuesday as the Department of Energy forecasts a continuous increase in petroleum costs.

In 2017, Russia forged an agreement with the Philippines to work together in developing nuclear infrastructure in the country.

Apart from Pavlov, Marcos also met with Ambassador Ahmed Shehabeldin Ibrahim of Egypt and Ambassador Grete Sillasen of Denmark to talk about possible areas of cooperation between their countries.

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