19 July 2016 — Philippine Ambassador to the Russian Federation Carlos D. Sorreta met with Dr. Andrey Kortunov, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), and Mr. Anton Tsvetsov, Researcher on Southeast Asia, at the RIAC office in central Moscow on July 18.

Discussions focused on recent developments in the Asia Pacific region, particularly the South China Sea (SCS) disputes and implications of the July 12 decision of the Arbitral Tribunal on the Philippines’ arbitration case on the SCS. Also tackled were developments in Syria and Ukraine.

The Russian International Affairs Council is a non-profit academic and diplomatic think tank established in 2012 by Presidential Decree. It was founded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education and Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and Interfax International Information Group.

RIAC’s mission is to “facilitate Russia’s peaceful integration into the global community, partly by organizing greater cooperation between Russian scientific institutions and foreign analytical centers/scholars on the major issues of international relations”. Its members include prominent figures in Russia’s government, business, and academic sectors. END