
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has said his country will source military helicopters from the United States after scrapping a $215m deal to buy 16 similar heavy-lift helicopters from Russia over fears of sanctions following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Manila will also seek to have Moscow return at least part of a multimillion-dollar deposit for the now-cancelled batch of Russian Mi-17 helicopters, Marcos Jr said on Thursday, in his first public comments on the touchy issue involving Russia.