MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and the French Academy of Sciences have signed a framework cooperation agreement. The document was signed on Tuesday by Permanent Representative of the French Academy of Sciences Catherine Brechignac and RAS President Alexander Sergeev.

"The meeting was very interesting to us, because, apart from singing the framework agreement, we discussed specific scientific projects," Sergeev said after the signing of the agreement.

The meeting participants discussed, among other projects, preservation and study of human heritage, sea exploration, such as the Mediterranean and Black Seas exploration, including marine archaeology, as well as nuclear physics, he said.

Brechignac also gave Sergeev a facsimile of Peter the Great’s letter after his election as an honorary member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1717.

"This is a very important gift for the academy. Peter was the first Russian academician, but not of a Russian academy. Maybe, France’s example made him realize that Russia needs an academy of its own to be established in 1724," Sergeev said.

During the Moscow visit, the head of the French academy will also award Director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) Viktor Matveev and Director of the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology at the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Makarov. On November 1, Brechignac will speak at the opening ceremony for a science conference at the Higher School of Economics.