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Russia’s chief scientist stresses importance of continued space cooperation with US

Cooperation with the United States in space research is, to a certain extent, a guarantee that our bilateral interaction will develop positively, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Aleksandr Sergeyev said

MOSCOW, June 1. /TASS/. It is important for Russian and US scientists to continue their cooperation in space exploration, which is also necessary for improving relations between the two countries, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Aleksandr Sergeyev said in a live broadcast of the Rossiya-24 TV Channel on Tuesday.

"Despite geopolitical complexities, we and the US side need to continue our cooperation in outer space and NASA Head Bill Nelson spoke about that several days ago. This involves cooperation in the near-Earth space, in orbit and in exploring the Moon and Venus… Cooperation with the United States in space research is, to a certain extent, a guarantee that our bilateral interaction will develop positively," Sergeyev said.

Cooperation in science and space research during the Cold War period contributed considerably to a d·tente in relationships with the United States, the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences said. In particular, this involved the docking of a Soviet Soyuz-19 spacecraft and a US Apollo spaceship in 1975 and other experiments, he specified.

"Among many examples, I would like to mention the recent interaction in virology. Last year, the Russian Academy of Sciences and the US National Academy of Sciences signed a special agreement on an exchange of information on research in this area. It must be said that this was an unprecedented act," Russia’s chief scientist stressed.

Generally, modern science is a science that is carried out in the international mode and such interaction is absolutely necessary for implementing effective scientific experiments, Sergeyev said.

"We have grown accustomed to working in this mode and we have a lot of contacts with foreign scientists in Europe and the United States. I must say that last year's covid pandemic underlined that thanks to such openness of science and interaction we managed to achieve a lot in different countries," the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences said.