Place: Moscow, Russian Federation

Date: 21 September 2026

Participants (in alphabetic order):

Anadolu (Turkey), ANTARA (Indonesia), AZERTAC (Azerbaijan), Bakhtar News Agency (Afghanistan), BERNAMA (Malaysia), IRNA (Islamic Republic of Iran), JiJi Press (Japan), KABAR (Kyrgyzstan), KCNA (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), KPL (Laos), KUNA (Kuwait), Kyodo News (Japan), Mehr Media Group (MMG) (Islamic Republic of Iran), MONTSAME (Mongolia), Oman News Agency (ONA) (Oman), Philippine News Agency (PNA) (Philippines), Press Trust of India (PTI) (India), QNA (Qatar), RSS (Nepal), Rossiya Segodnya (Russian Federation), Saudi Press Agency (SPA) (Saudi Arabia), TASS (Russian Federation), Trend News Agency (Azerbaijan), TRK (KAZINFORM) (Republic of Kazakhstan), VNA (Vietnam), Xinhua News Agency (China), YONHAP News Agency (Republic of Korea).

Opening of the Meeting

OANA President, TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov opened the meeting. As part of the opening ceremony, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov delivered a speech and read out the greeting from President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to the Media Forum participants. In his speech Dmitry Peskov noted the vital role of participants in protecting information exchange and emphasized the most important task of news agencies in combating the spread of false information.

Official Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova also delivered a welcoming speech. She stated that the media space has become an arena of struggle for the right to distinguish truth from lies and called fact-checking one of the most politicized spheres of the media industry.

OANA President Andrey Kondrashov and OANA Secretary General, TASS Deputy Director General Marat Abulkhatin also delivered welcoming speeches.

Within the framework of the plenary session, OANA President Andrey Kondrashov emphasized that cooperation between the news agencies - OANA members - is built on trust, which, in turn, is based on information. “Our cooperation is built on trust. Trust is built on information. When information is false, trust is destroyed,” he stated. Andrey Kondrashov also noted that OANA should become a platform for developing common standards through a dialogue of equals, and not standards imposed from outside.

President of the Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN), Director General of ANO “Dialog” and ANO “Dialog Regions” Vladimir Tabak also had a speech at the plenary session.

Signing Ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation between OANA and GFCN

A signing ceremony was held for the Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation between the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) and the Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN). The memorandum was signed by OANA President Andrey Kondrashov and GFCN President Vladimir Tabak. The document formalizes a partnership aimed at creating a global trust infrastructure and developing common standards for combating disinformation. The signing of the memorandum marks a transition to joint protection of truth.

Panel Session 1: “Approaches to Countering the Spread of Disinformation and Fake News”

Moderator: Sergey Kuzovnikov — TASS Strategy Director.

Speakers:

- Antara News Agency (Indonesia)

- MMG (Islamic Republic of Iran)

- Bakhtar News Agency (Afghanistan)

- IRNA (Islamic Republic of Iran)

- ANO “Dialog” (Russian Federation)

A discussion was held.

Panel Session 2: “Media and Artificial Intelligence: Methodologies and Ethics in the Digital Era”

Moderator: Yaroslav Kurilo — Consultant of the TASS International Relations Department.

Speakers:

- MONTSAME (Mongolia)

- Anadolu (Turkey)

- VNA (Vietnam)

- Kyodo News (Japan)

- PTI (India)

A discussion was held.

Panel Session 3: “Content Quality: Strategies for Upholding Professional Standards”

Moderator: Ilya Lazarev — TASS Visual Content Director.

Speakers:

- PNA (Philippines)

- KUNA (Kuwait)

- AZERTAC (Azerbaijan)

- TASS (Russian Federation)

A discussion was held.

Closing Ceremony

Closing speeches were delivered by OANA President Andrey Kondrashov and OANA Secretary General Marat Abulkhatin.

OANA Awards 2026 Ceremony

The OANA Awards 2026 ceremony was held. Winners were awarded in three categories:

Best Photo:

- 1st place — Mustafa Kılıç, Anadolu Agency, Turkey

- 2nd place — Mohammed Abdullah Al-Sharif, Saudi Press Agency, Saudi Arabia

- 3rd place — İlkin Eskipehlivan, Anadolu Agency, Turkey

Best Photo Report:

- 1st place — Ömer Taha Çetin, Anadolu Agency, Turkey

- 2nd place — Faisal Al Shibani, Saudi Press Agency, Saudi Arabia

- 3rd place — Yang Wenbin, Xinhua, China

- 3rd place — Hao Yuan, Li Jianan, Xinhua, China

Best Article:

- 1st place — Marzieh Rahmani, Mehr Media Group, Iran

- 2nd place — Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Mai, Đỗ Thị Mai Hiên, Vũ Thị Phương, Vietnam News Agency, Vietnam

- 2nd place — Azadeh Fazli, Mehr Media Group, Iran

- 2nd place — Beril Canakci, Anadolu Agency, Turkey

- 3rd place — Dave Hueston, Kyodo, Japan

Signing of Bilateral Memorandums

On the margins of the Media Forum, the following bilateral memorandums of cooperation were signed:

- Memorandum of Cooperation between TASS (Russian Federation) and YONHAP News Agency (Republic of Korea).

- Memorandum of Cooperation between TASS (Russian Federation) and BERNAMA (Malaysia).

- Memorandum of Cooperation between TASS (Russian Federation) and Saudi Press Agency (SPA) (Saudi Arabia).

- Memorandum of Cooperation between VNA (Vietnam) and MONTSAME (Mongolia).

Closing of the Meeting

The meeting ended with an address by the OANA President to the participants, in which Andrey Kondrashov thanked his colleagues for their fruitful work.