Putin says Russia plans to deepen military-technical ties with 'friendly countries'
ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 20 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia intends to develop military and technical cooperation with "friendly countries" with whom Moscow wants to jointly produce arms and train military personnel.
In a speech at Russia's showcase economic forum in St Petersburg, Putin said Moscow also planned to modernise its own armed forces and their bases by equipping them with the latest weapons and technology.
"We will harness new technology to improve the combat capabilities of the Russian armed forces, modernise military infrastructure facilities, (and) equip them with the latest technology and weapons and equipment," he said.
"At the same time, we intend to develop military-technical co-operation with friendly countries. And we are talking not only about supplies or the modernisation of equipment and weapons, but also about joint development, personnel training, and the creation of turn-key enterprises and production facilities," he said.
Talking about global trade, Putin said Russia planned to develop trade ties with its partners by removing barriers, opening up market niches and deepening investment cooperation.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
2 hours ago
- Times
Nato flatters ‘Daddy' Trump but Ukraine can't be forgotten
Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary-general, paid gushing compliments to President Trump PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES T he sycophancy was as extraordinary as it was effective. The gushing compliments paid by Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary-general, to President Trump for his 'big win' in securing agreement — almost unanimous — at the Nato summit to raise the defence spending of each member to 5 per cent of GDP raised smiles, eyebrows and high hopes that America would not, after all, turn its back on its allies. Hailing him as the 'Daddy', the former Dutch prime minister told Mr Trump that he had achieved something 'no American president in decades could get done'. A glowing Mr Trump left the Hague noting that 'these people' really loved their countries and that America was there to protect them. The 'big win' was that Nato explicitly recognised the threat from Russia and that Europe was ready to pay a larger — and long overdue — share of the huge sums now needed to increase its defence and resilience. Mr Trump, basking in the adulation he received for the US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, seemed to put behind him past denunciations of European freeloading and all talk of turning his back on Nato. That will be a huge relief to nervous European leaders — as least as long as the mercurial president does not change his mind. And it will thwart any hopes in Moscow of widening a transatlantic split. • Donald Trump 'sees Vladimir Putin as obstacle to Ukraine peace talks' There was a price to pay, however. There was no time to discuss other issues, such as a common procurement policy, regional stability or any offer of further reassurance to frontline states such as the Baltics. Most regrettable of all, the summit did not discuss the urgent need for continuing military support for Ukraine. Nor, for the first time since the Russian invasion more than three years ago, did the final communiqué condemn Vladimir Putin's aggression. This was a serious omission. Russia's steady advance along much of the front line, coupled with the relentless bombardment of Ukrainian civilians, underlines the determination of the Kremlin to seize control of all Ukraine and the utter cynicism of President Putin in his talks with Mr Trump and his emissaries in suggesting he might contemplate a ceasefire and negotiations. He will not. And at last the US president seems disabused of his naive fantasy that he can win over Mr Putin by his indulgence of the Russian leader. Russia's dictator, he said, was 'misguided' — a notable presidential understatement. At least this time Mr Trump made space for private talks with President Zelensky, with some words of encouragement that avoided the earlier rancour. Mr Trump still shows no sign of being ready to increase military pressure on Russia or give Ukraine the arms it needs to prevail. But there may be a way forward in suggestions that the United States could sell Kyiv the Patriot air defence missiles so desperately needed — a transactional deal that would suit Mr Trump's outlook. For that, Ukraine just needs money. Other weapons, notably drones, it is manufacturing itself in large quantities. Nato, apart from Spain, has rediscovered the need for collective security and mutual obligations. Madrid, disgracefully, thinks it can remain an outlier (even Hungary is ready to pay 5 per cent). Domestic politics is the reason, as well as Spain's distance from the front line. This may change. More than ever, Nato needs unity.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
EU leaders agree to renew Russia sanctions for another six months
BRUSSELS, June 26 (Reuters) - EU leaders agreed on Thursday to renew sanctions imposed against Russia over Moscow's war in Ukraine for another six months, two EU officials said.
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Following NATO summit, Trump and Europe still at odds over Putin's ambitions
THE HAGUE, June 26 (Reuters) - For U.S. President Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin is a man looking for an off-ramp to his bloody three-year assault on Ukraine. But according to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, the Russian leader may be just getting started. If the alliance does not invest in its defense capabilities, Rutte warned the annual NATO summit on Tuesday, Russia could attack an alliance country within three years. By most measures, this year's NATO summit in The Hague was a success. Member states largely agreed to a U.S. demand to boost defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product. Trump, who once derided the alliance as a "rip-off," said his view had changed, while a budding bromance blossomed between him and Rutte, who compared the U.S. president to a stern "daddy" managing his geopolitical underlings. But the summit, which ended on Wednesday, also highlighted the widening gap between how the U.S. and Europe see the military ambitions of Russia, the bloc's main foil. That is despite some lawmakers in Trump's own Republican Party hardening their rhetoric in recent weeks, arguing that while the president's ambition to negotiate an end to Russia's war in Ukraine is laudable, it is now clear that Putin is not serious about coming to the table. In a Wednesday press conference, Trump conceded that it was "possible" Putin had territorial ambitions beyond Ukraine. But he insisted that the Russian leader - buffeted by manpower and materiel losses - wanted the war to end quickly. "I know one thing: He'd like to settle," Trump said. "He'd like to get out of this thing. It's a mess for him." Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Trump's view in a sideline interview with Politico, saying the U.S. was holding off on expanding its sanctions against Moscow, in part to keep talks going. "If we did what everybody here wants us to do - and that is come in and crush them with more sanctions - we probably lose our ability to talk to them about the ceasefire," he said. The message from others at the summit was starkly different. A senior NATO official told reporters in a Tuesday briefing that Putin was not in fact interested in a ceasefire - or in engaging in good-faith talks at all. "Regardless of battlefield dynamics, we continue to doubt that Russia has any interest in meaningful negotiations," the official said. Russia's ambitions, the senior official said, go beyond control of "certain territories at their administrative lines," as Rubio put it. Putin is instead bent on imposing his "political will" on neighboring states. Rutte put the Russian threat in existential terms. "If we do not invest now," he said on Tuesday, "we are really at risk that the Russians might try something against NATO territory in three, five or seven years." The U.S. is not the only NATO member with a more optimistic view of Russia. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a longtime Trump ally and critic of European institutions, said Russia was "not strong enough to represent a real threat to NATO." Still, as the alliance's largest contributor and most powerful member, Washington's position is a central preoccupation in most NATO capitals. The White House, asked for comment, referred to Trump's comments at the Wednesday press conference. In response to a request for comment, a separate NATO official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, disputed that there were differing assessments within the alliance, pointing to a NATO declaration on Wednesday which referenced the "long-term threat posed by Russia." The Russian embassy in Washington referred to Thursday comments by Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who criticized NATO for wasting money on defense. "It seems that only by invoking the fabricated 'Russian threat' will it be possible to explain to ordinary people why their pockets are being emptied once again," she said. The U.S. State Department and the Ukrainian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment. The lack of a common understanding about Putin's goals will complicate future diplomatic plans to wind down the war, said Philippe Dickinson, the deputy director of the Transatlantic Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council and a former British diplomat. "To reach a peace agreement, it's not just something that Trump and Putin can agree themselves," Dickinson said. "There does need to be European involvement. That needs to mean that there is some sort of sharing of views among allies on what Putin is trying to achieve." European leaders likely have not given up on trying to change Trump's views on Russia, Dickinson said. But they were always unlikely bring up thorny conversations at the NATO summit. The alliance's main goal was to simply get through it without major blowups, he said, an aim that was accomplished. Still, peace came at a cost - the lack of substantive discussion around Ukraine and Russia, he argued, was conspicuous. "The lack of a Russia strategy is a real glaring omission from what the summit could have produced," Dickinson said.
