Exclusive - President Duterte to Putin: 'We have been longing to be part of Europe'

In an outlandish talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, President Rodrigo Duterte said that the Philippines had been longing to be part of Europe.

The two presidents met on their very first bilateral meeting where Duterte expressed his scorn for the European Union but also his wish that the Philippines would became part of Europe.

“I have been looking for this moment to meet you, Mr. President, not only because you represent a great country but [because of your leadership] too,” President Digong started.

“And we’ve been longing to be part also of — despite the distance — we have been longing to be part of Europe, especially in commerce and trade around the world,” he told the Russian president.

Meanwhile, Duterte started to talk about the what he so-called "hypocrisy" of the West in making affairs with other countries that later on ended in advancing their own interests.

“They want to seem to start a war but are afraid to go to war. That is what’s wrong with America and the others. They are waging war in so many places: in Vietnam, Afghanistan and in Iraq,” he said.

“And for one single reason that there was a weapon of mass destruction [in Iraq] and there was none. They insist, if you are allied with them that they follow you. They go to the Korean war, nothing happened. They did not defeat them,” the Philippine president added.

The talk between the two presidents happened at 12 noon on Saturday (1 a.m. in Manila time) inside a hotel room having tight security because of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders meeting. Media coverage was only allowed for the first 10 minutes.

“Well, you have been able to do a lot in a short period of time in terms of developing all round  partnership between our countries and with respect to promoting greater trust and confidence between us,” President Putin congratulated Duterte at the last part of their talk.

Source: TNP, Facebook, Inquirer