Chinese tech giant Huawei has started negotiations with Russia on installing the Russian Aurora operating system (OS) on its tablets, sources said, quoted by Reuters.
"This is a pilot project. We see it as the first stage of launching the Russian OS on Huawei devices", a source told Reuters.
According to the source, Huawei is in talks with the Russian Ministry of Communications.
A representative of Huawei said that the project is in the pilot stage, and considered to be the first stage of launching the Russian OS on Huawei devices. The company is looking for alternative operating systems for Android, after the United States included the smartphone manufacturer in the list of companies that cannot cooperate with American firms without a license.
In July, Deputy Head of the Russian Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications Mikhail Mamonov reported that the ministry expects that the pilot project will begin before the end of 2019.
Aurora (earlier called Sailfish) is Russia's only OS and is not currently in circulation. The OS is in development by Russia's state telecommunications operator, Rostelecom, and is based on a Linux kernel, but supports Android applications.
Amid US pressure, Huawei revealed the Harmony OS mobile operating system, developed in-house as a possible replacement for Android. The company is also holding talks with a number of foreign companies and organisations to replace US-produced software.