Putin says Russia plans to deepen military-technical ties with 'friendly countries'
ST PETERSBURG, Russia (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.
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News24
31 minutes ago
- News24
Chris Roper: African audiences lead the global shift to social news
The 2025 Reuters Digital News Report reveals that news media in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa are among the world's most trusted, even as social media and video platforms overtake traditional outlets, writes Chris Roper. Revelations of the 2025 The Reuters Digital News Report (DNR), now in its 14th iteration, include how audiences are moving towards social media and video platforms as a source of news, and the way this is contributing to the already eroding influence of traditional news organisations and 'supercharging a fragmented alternative media environment containing an array of podcasters, YouTubers, and TikTokkers. At the same time, chatbots powered by generative AI are emerging as a new way to access information, especially with people under 35, raising concerns about a potential loss of search referral traffic to publisher websites and apps.' There are still opportunities for news organisations to build different relationships with their readers, though, and arguably, this is especially so for African news publishers. Reliable content When describing how this applies to news globally, the authors write, 'Despite this, audiences remain mostly sceptical about news they find on both social and AI platforms, partly driven by concerns about access to reliable content. Online influencers and politicians are seen as the biggest threats in this regard, while the majority expect generative AI to make the news cheaper to make, but less accurate and less trustworthy. These concerns could offer opportunities for publishers, as audiences say they still look to news brands when checking for reliable information, ahead of sources such as politicians, influencers and trusted personal contacts.' Brokering a relationship that rests on trust is, of course, not an easy thing. Potentially, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa are well placed to do this, given that there still exists a high level of trust in news in those countries. The DNR includes a fourth African country, Morocco, but it is somewhat of an outlier in terms of the survey. Data for Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa are based on surveys that are representative of younger, English-speaking online news users only, rather than their respective national populations, which makes it difficult to draw comparisons with Morocco, where the survey was targeted at a more heterogeneous group. The report's authors advise caution when directly comparing data points between these African markets and countries with very high internet penetration where the online sample is more broadly representative of the national population. Bearing that caveat in mind, several instructive comparisons can still be made. High levels of trust in Nigeria and Kenya Nigeria and Kenya stand out with significantly high levels of overall trust in news. Nigeria recorded the highest overall trust among all 48 markets surveyed at 68% (ranking 1st), and Kenya was close behind at 65% (ranking 3rd). Trust in news in Nigeria has increased since 2021. South Africa also reported a relatively high trust level at 55% (ranking 5th overall), well above the global average of 40%. There is something of a red flag for South Africa, which has experienced a six percentage-point drop in trust since 2022 (from 61%), with almost all news brands seeing a decline. Morocco has one of the lowest levels of trust in news among the surveyed countries, at just 28% (ranking 42nd), significantly lower than its African counterparts. The real opportunity for media in Africa, perhaps, comes from this category of trust in media, and anxiety about what is real and what is false online. A significant majority of all four countries express high concern about distinguishing true from false news information online, with the African region showing the highest concern globally (73%). Both Kenya and Nigeria report 73% concern, and South Africa has 'high concern about information integrity' at 67%. Morocco's concern is at 54%. This contrasts with Western Europe, which has the lowest levels of concern (46%). Online influencers and personalities are perceived as a major threat for false or misleading information across all markets (47% global average). This concern is particularly high in Kenya (59%), Nigeria (58%), and South Africa (56%, and specifically for TikTok). Morocco also sees online influencers/personalities (52%) as the biggest threat, followed by national politicians (30%). All four countries exhibit a strong reliance on digital platforms and social media for news, which the report reveals is a trend common in the Global South. Social media is a primary source, and the report points out that this is the first year that social media has displaced television as the top way Americans get news, with the proportion of news consumers accessing news via social media and video networks in the United States (54%) overtaking both TV news (50%) and news websites/apps (48%) for the first time. This is going to be a significant strategic issue for traditional news publishers in Africa. How to take advantage of move to social media Instead of succumbing to the existential threat of the ever-accelerating move towards social media, how do they take advantage? The social media landscape is a fragmented one, with the report revealing that six online networks now reach more than 10% weekly with news content, compared to just two a decade ago, but African countries frequently rank among the top global users of social media platforms for news consumption, placing them in what we could term a social-first category alongside countries in Latin America and parts of Asia. This is particularly the case for video-centric platforms like YouTube and TikTok. African countries show some of the highest weekly usage of YouTube for news. More than half of the sampled populations in Kenya (54%, up five percentage points), Morocco (49%), and Nigeria (49%, up five percentage points) reported using YouTube for news, with South Africa also showing significant usage at 42%, although this is down five percentage points since the 2024 DNR. This positions them alongside top Asian countries, such as India (55%) and Thailand (55%), and significantly above the global average of 30%. TikTok and Facebook still major players TikTok is growing rapidly as a network for news consumption. Kenya is at 38%, South Africa at 33%, Nigeria at 28%, and Morocco at 24%, which is notably higher than the average use in the United States (12%) and Europe (11%), and the global average of 16%. Facebook is still a major player when it comes to news consumption. Nigeria leads with 65% weekly news usage, followed by Kenya (52%), South Africa (50%), and Morocco (47%). The global average is 36%. WhatsApp is also widely used for news in Africa, contrasting with the global average of 19%. Nigeria shows 53% weekly news usage, Kenya 46%, South Africa 41%, and Morocco 30%. Instagram's news usage is also considerable for Nigeria at 41%, Morocco at 32%, and Kenya at 26%. In South Africa, Instagram is the lowest of the six social media platforms covered by the report, with only 15% of those surveyed indicating they used it for news, a two percentage-point drop from 2024 and below the global average of 19%. Usage of social media platform X for news in African countries is mixed, with Kenya at 42%, Nigeria at 49% (a nine percentage point increase), Morocco at 11%, and South Africa at 16%. Kenya and Nigeria are way above the global average of 12%. READ | Online hate speech hits Africa, social media firms told to act Amid the decline in consumption of traditional news media, there is some hope in terms of consumption of local news in South Africa. The country stands out with the highest interest in local news (60%) among the surveyed countries, significantly higher than the average interest in local news across 45 markets (32%). This question was not asked for Kenya and Nigeria. Interestingly, audiences in these African countries, as well as in Asia, show notably higher comfort levels with news content produced mostly by AI with some human oversight compared to Europe. South Africa's comfort level is 34%, higher than the USA (19%) and Europe (15%). This might prove to be an opportunity for African news publishers to embark on a transparent implementation of AI into their news flow, one that includes audiences in the process. Instead of a challenge to editorial integrity, this could be a mechanism to build trust with readers. News avoidance A major threat, though, is the high levels of news avoidance. Globally, the DNR authors tell us, 'trust and low engagement in the news are closely connected with 'avoidance', an increasing challenge in a high-choice news environment, where news is often upsetting in different ways. Across markets, four in 10 (40%) say they sometimes or often avoid the news, up from 29% in 2017 and the joint highest figure we've ever recorded (along with 2024).' News avoidance varies among the four African countries, with Kenya reporting a 50% news avoidance, South Africa 41%, Nigeria 35%, and Morocco 39%. The DNR identifies some key threats to traditional media, such as the continued reliance on social media, video platforms, and online aggregators for news, the pressure on business models, attacks on press freedom, and the emergence of AI platforms and chatbots as new sources of news. It's not all doom and gloom for African news publishers, though. In some cases, they can learn from the rest of the world, but in other cases, they have the opportunity to take advantage of the differences in their own local environments. Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa have some of the highest levels of trust in news globally, which can potentially be leveraged to position themselves as reliable sources amid growing scepticism about information on social and AI platforms. - Chris Roper is a deputy CEO at Code for Africa. Note: The Africa launch of the Reuters DNR takes place on Monday, 23 June, (13:00 CAT), hosted by Reuters Institute of Journalism in partnership with Code for Africa. A presentation by lead author Nic Newman will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Ajibola Amzat from the Centre for Collaborative Investigative Journalism, Justine Wanda from Fake Woke and Jillian Green from Daily Maverick. Sign up now.
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
A company on Russia's doorstep that sent its war robots to Ukraine got a crash course in what soldiers need
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Kuldar Väärsi, the founder and CEO of Milrem Robotics, told Business Insider that Western weapons makers and militaries need to be learning from what's happening in Ukraine and that the company's experiences there have led to some changes in its products. Väärsi said that developments in Ukraine are "totally different" from peacetime, when weapons are used in training and exercises. The company has been closely watching for ways to make its robots better, both to help Ukraine and to help Europe if needed. One key area has been the simplicity of use. He said the THeMIS was "already quite simple and very easy system to control," but the needs on the battlefield meant it had to be even simpler. He said that in peacetime, equipment might only be used by experienced troops with training. "In Ukraine, in real war, you can't follow that," Väärsi said. "Basically, anybody who needs that equipment will use it, and the more intuitive and simple you make the user interface and you make the usability, the more certain you can be that actually it'll be properly used and efficiently used and it'll be useful for the troops." The electronic warfare battle in Ukraine, in which both sides are jamming and spoofing everything — drones, comms, GPS, and more— has also sparked big changes in uncrewed systems technology. "What we have learned and changed and implemented in our systems is everything related to EW, communication, and cyber," the Milrem CEO said. Evolutions in countermeasures like electronic warfare have led to developments like fiber-optic drones and AI-enabled drones that are resistant to enemy jamming. "What we can see as a trend in Ukraine is that technologies around communication change basically weekly," Väärsi said, referring to the combat systems that rely heavily on stable signals. The feedback from Ukraine means "we have changed quite significantly our design and our products," he said. Väärsi said the company was "very eager" to provide its systems to Ukraine it is based in Estonia, a country once part of the Soviet Union like Ukraine and a current Russian neighbor worried about the possibility of an attack on its sovereignty. Estonia is among the biggest defense spenders in NATO as a proportion of GDP and one of the countries sounding the alarm the loudest about Russia. "It's our mission to support Ukraine as much as we can, to help them win this war. And even if it's as little as sending our vehicles, then we should certainly do it," Väärsi said. He said it's a good business move, too. "If you look at it from the validation perspective, the equipment which doesn't justify itself in Ukraine, why should that be even necessary?" Milrem was founded in 2013, and Väärsi said that before this war, "quite a lot of people were talking about unmanned ground vehicles in defense," but there were also "lots of doubts around it." This war "has demonstrated that unmanned ground vehicles have a really important place on the battlefield," he said. Learning from Ukraine Many Western governments want their countries' battlefield technology in Ukraine so companies can learn how best to be ready for any potential conflict with Russia — something many European countries warn could happen. It's something many Western defense companies want too. Their products can be battle-tested and updated, proving their worth and increasing sales. Luke Pollard, the UK's armed forces minister, said last month:"If you are a drone company and you do not have your kit on the front line in Ukraine, you might as well give up." Väärsi said that Milrem Robotics has a team that regularly visits Ukraine, meets military units, and works directly with the operators who use the company's equipment. It will also soon have a team based in Ukraine to "be closer to Ukrainian forces and to support them even better," he shared. Many companies work closely with soldiers to aid development. A Ukrainian drone operator previously told BI that he texts and FaceTimes with drone makers about their products to encourage a better iterative design and development process. Robots of the future Ground robots are particularly useful on the battlefield because they can be used to move a lot more weight than the flying drones and often more than humans can, fire from positions that are not safe for soldiers to fight from, and travel closer to Russian positions than any human fighter can safely. Väärsi said he sees the robots' role "as a first line of defense or offense," keeping troops safer. That benefits Ukraine, which doesn't have manpower to spare. "You don't move your troops in front, but you move your unmanned systems," he said. Väärsi noted Ukraine, which has a rapidly growing defense industry, has also developed a "very capable" ground robots industry. It's a technology the West and others as well are looking at more and more. Germany's ARX Robotics opened Europe's largest production facility for ground military robots this year, and companies across the continent are making new models. Milrem is playing a leading role, heading a consortium developing unmanned ground systems that received $56 million in funding from the European Defense Fund. Its robots are capable platforms that Russian researchers actually put a bounty on, encouraging soldiers to try to steal one to advance Russia's work in this space. The company's other products include larger combat vehicles, like HAVOC, which has a payload capacity of 5 tons. It also has an AI-enabled intelligent functions kit, which lets the vehicles move autonomously. It says that its products are part of robotics programs or in service in 19 countries, including the US, UK, and Germany. Ground robots are one of many things Ukraine's international partners are watching closely as they look into what sort of tactics, weaponry, and so on they should adopt. Milrem collaborates with companies that are in Ukraine, and Väärsi encouraged other foreign defense companies to do the same. "What I consider very important is that in Europe we need to learn and very seriously learn what is ongoing in Ukraine: what works, what doesn't work, what mindsets need to be shifted to be better equipped if — hopefully that never happens — but if Russia decides to expand their activities in the warfare."
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
EU and Italy announce major debt-relief deal for Africa
Italy is working with the European Union on a debt-relief plan for African countries, as part of its broader push to foster development on the continent and address the root causes of irregular migration. " The entire 10-year operation will allow us to convert some 235 million euros ($270.67 million) of debt into development projects to be implemented locally," Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, said. In addition to the EU-led efforts, Italy is advancing its strategic framework, the Mattei Plan for Africa, which aims to accelerate growth in agriculture, energy, and infrastructure across African nations, according to Reuters. The European Union's involvement complements these efforts through its Global Gateway strategy, launched in 2021 to foster sustainable, high-standard investment as an alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative. One of the flagship projects under this collaboration is funding for a new transport corridor connecting Angola's Lobito port with Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a crucial mineral export route. "Investing in infrastructure is not just building railways, bridges and dams. It is also investing in training for local workers because that builds capacity and that is how transfer of expertise happens. And this results in positive spillovers all across the local economies of Africa. There is no better example than our work on the Lobito corridor," President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said. Meloni also stressed the urgency of addressing Africa's growing debt burden, warning it could 'undermine all other efforts' toward inclusive and sustainable development if left unaddressed. She revealed that a new initiative is being developed to reduce the debt load of low- and middle-income African countries by up to 50%. While she did not provide specific details, she emphasized that addressing debt was central to Italy's broader strategy for fostering long-term growth and stability in Africa.
