Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said Russia has offered to sell the Philippines rifles in a "buy one, get one free" deal.
Duterte said he can always buy rifles from Russia. He made the comments after he returned from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, Peru.
Duterte said Russian President Vladimir Putin told him during their meeting in Lima that Moscow is willing to sell guns to the Philippines at "buy one, take one free".
"Why should I have to belabour the point with (US Senator Ben) Cardin. If he does not want us to be allies, we'll go to Russia and China," he said.
Duterte was referring to US Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who reportedly threatened to cancel the sale of some 26,000 assault rifles to the Philippines due to human rights concerns.
--IANS
py/dg
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