Russia plans to place military cooperation with six countries on a long-term footing by signing multi-year agreements in 2026, Deputy Defense Minister Vasily Osmakov said.

The shift toward broader and more durable bilateral partnerships was identified as one of the Defense Ministry’s priorities at an expanded board meeting in December 2025.

At the same time, Russia is increasing the number of joint combat training activities with foreign partners. Five such events were held in the first half of the year with India, China, South Africa, Iran and Laos.

Two more were added in July. The Russian-Chinese Maritime Interaction 2026 exercise ended in the Yellow Sea on July 13. A Russian-Myanmar army training and methodological session is also underway in Myanmar and is scheduled to conclude on July 19. This brought the total number of joint exercises reported by the ministry to seven.

During Russia’s chairmanship of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, defense ministers from CSTO member states also agreed to introduce new military specialties into personnel training programs.

The ministry is also expanding its focus on technological projects and civil-military integration. A dedicated project office has already been established at the ERA Military Innovation Technopolis.

In addition, the Voentech service has begun operating within the state industrial information system. The platform was created to receive and support proposals involving advanced technologies and new developments for the Russian Armed Forces.

More than 300 applications have been submitted through the service. Around 100 passed the initial review, while 25 received backing from military command bodies.

Work is also continuing on a federal law on civil-military integration. Both the concept and the draft legislation have been prepared, and the text is now undergoing expert review.

The proposed law is intended to make defense spending more economically efficient by attracting private resources on a voluntary and mutually beneficial basis.