Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has announced that Russia is ready to work together with China and with Huawei on 5G technology, in lieu of the US' efforts to bar foreign entities from cooperating with the Chinese tech giant.
During a Q&A session at the "Territory of Meanings" forum, the minister insisted that Russia has no intention to "follow the example" of the United States "who simply demand not to cooperate on 5G with China and, in particular, with Huawei".
Instead, Lavrov explained, Russia is interested in working together with other countries in order to jointly develop and implement modern technologies.
"5G is an important issue for us, just like for the rest of the world", he remarked.
The minister also noted how Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned on several occasions that if Russia were to "lag behind in the development of advanced technologies, be it 5G or artificial intelligence, it would be bad for the country".
Huawei ended up being blacklisted by the United States amid vocal concerns about the possibility of Chinese intelligence exploiting potential "back doors" in the tech to spy on users, with the company management and Beijing vehemently denying such claims.
Earlier this month, the US Commerce Department further tightened restrictions on Huawei’s access to American technology, along with adding over three dozen of the company's affiliates in 21 countries to its economic blacklist.