China’s Huawei signs deal with telecom firm MTS to develop 5G in Russia

China’s Huawei, considered a security threat in the US, on Wednesday signed a deal with Russian telecom company MTS to develop a 5G network in the country over the next year, The agreement was signed on the sidelines of a meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

The deal will see “the development of 5G technologies and the pilot launch of fifth generation networks in 2019-2020”, MTS said in a statement.

Quoted in the statement, Huawei’s Guo Ping, said he was “very happy” with the agreement “in an area of strategic importance like 5G”.

The Chinese telecom giant has been in turmoil since May, when the Trump administration banned US companies from selling high-tech equipment to Huawei over suspicions it is spying for Beijing.