Moscow invites Musk to collaborate on Mars exploration
Dmitriev's remarks came in response to Musk's announcement of a planned 2026 Mars mission. The SpaceX founder stated that the company's Starship spacecraft is set to depart for Mars next year and will be carrying a Tesla humanoid bot called Optimus. Musk also suggested that human landings on Mars could begin as early as 2029.
'Shall 2029 be the year of a joint US-Russia mission to Mars, @elonmusk? Our minds & technology should serve the glory of humanity, not its destruction,' Dmitriev wrote. He also noted that 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first crewed international space mission carried out jointly by then-spaceflight rivals, the US and the Soviet Union, in July 1975.
Musk has not yet publicly responded to Dmitriev's proposal, but the idea has garnered a slew of positive reactions from X users.
https://t.co/f8WqJYKBhY
The proposal comes amid a thaw in relations between Moscow and Washington following years of tensions over the Ukraine conflict. Dmitriev was part of the Russian delegation at the high-level US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia last month, which marked the first direct diplomatic contact between the two states since 2022. The meeting ended with both sides signaling a readiness to restart economic and diplomatic cooperation and join forces in resolving the Ukraine conflict.
Despite the conflict and Western sanctions imposed on Moscow, space cooperation between the US and Russia has not been severed. For instance, NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos recently extended their agreement on cross-flights to the International Space Station through 2026.
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that domestic companies should collaborate with Musk once the billionaire shifts his focus back to science from government reform. Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has appointed Musk as an adviser leading the Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) charged with cutting wasteful spending, bureaucracy, and corruption in US government.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
2 hours ago
- Russia Today
US senators propose $55bn Ukraine aid bill
A group of US senators have introduced a bill to allocate $54.6 billion in aid to Ukraine over the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years. President Donald Trump has repeatedly opposed more US aid to Ukraine, insisting Europe should cover the costs. The bill includes provisions for direct military assistance to Kiev and proposes using income generated from frozen Russian assets held in the United States to help finance the aid. Moscow has repeatedly warned that the seizure or use of its sovereign assets would constitute a violation of international law. The proposed legislation would also increase funding under Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) from the current $100 million to $6 billion annually. The mechanism allows the US president to authorize emergency weapons transfers without congressional approval. Additionally, the bill proposes allocating $1 billion to military drone production involving the US, Ukraine, and Taiwan. It also calls for the transfer of confiscated and illegal weapons seized by US authorities to Kiev and suggests counting American military aid toward Washington's contributions to the US-Ukrainian investment fund for the country's reconstruction. Separate legislation advanced by the Senate Appropriations Committee would provide an additional $1 billion in 'security assistance' for Ukraine, including $225 million earmarked for Baltic nations supporting Kiev. Last month, Trump claimed that billions of dollars allocated by the Biden administration may have been misused by Ukraine, saying he doubts the money was spent on weapons as intended. He has also backed NATO-led purchases of American weapons as a business opportunity. Former Trump adviser Steve Cortes has also criticized continued aid, calling Ukraine 'corrupt' and warning that its leadership 'cannot be trusted' following a recent crackdown on anti-corruption bodies. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has likewise condemned Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky as a 'dictator' and called for his removal, accusing him of blocking peace efforts. Russia has consistently denounced Western military and financial assistance to Kiev, saying it fuels further escalation and leads to more bloodshed rather than a negotiated settlement.
Russia Today
2 hours ago
- Russia Today
‘16,000 sanctions… and Russia continues to move forward'
The unprecedented number of Western sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukraine conflict has 'clearly had no impact,' as the country has adapted its economy, retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis has said. Speaking on his YouTube show on Thursday, Davis discussed US President Donald Trump's renewed push to pressure Moscow using new sanctions unless a peace deal is reached. Earlier this week, Trump slashed his original 50-day deadline for Russia and Ukraine to settle the conflict down to just ten days. He warned that a failure to do so would trigger sweeping penalties, including 100% tariffs and possible secondary sanctions targeting Russia's trade partners. 'One has to wonder on what basis President Trump still seems to think he can coerce Russia to come to the table,' Davis said, adding that previous deadlines have 'meant little.' Moscow has repeatedly said it remains open to talks, but that any deal must reflect the realities on the ground and address the root causes of the conflict. Davis, a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, questioned how further sanctions or timelines could shift the current strategic picture. Russia, he noted, has adapted to years of pressure. 'All these [Western] sanctions – the 18 rounds, the total of 16,000 measures the US has imposed on Russia over many years – have clearly had no impact,' he said. 'Russia continues to move forward because it has largely made itself self-sufficient.' Trump acknowledged on Friday that the new measures may prove ineffective but confirmed his administration would move ahead unless a deal is reached. According to Davis, if the latest deadline fails again, Trump risks looking 'ineffective, having exhausted his political capital.' The Kremlin says Russia has long grown accustomed to Western pressure, calling the sanctions illegal and counterproductive. Moscow maintains they have backfired on countries imposing them. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that over 28,000 sanctions had been imposed against Russian companies and individuals, more than the total number of restrictions on all other countries combined. He stressed the measures have failed to destabilize the economy or isolate it.
Russia Today
3 hours ago
- Russia Today
India-US ties have weathered many challenges
The India-US relationship has 'weathered many transitions and challenges' in the past and is based on mutual respect, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday. The comments come in response to the US imposing 25% tariffs on imports from India and Donald Trump's threatening to add penalties over and above those due to New Delhi's trade and defense ties with Moscow. 'India and the US share a comprehensive global strategic partnership anchored in shared interests, democratic values, robust people-to-people ties,' Jaiswal said. He also spoke of the potential for the defense partnership with Washington. 'We have strong defense ties with the US which have been strengthening over the last several years,' he said. ❗️🇮🇳 Relationships With Other Countries Should Not Be Seen Through Prism Of A Third Country - Russia & India Have A Steady & Time-Tested Partnership- MEA Reacts To Trump's Secondary Tariffs A day after Trump said India and Russia 'could take their dead economies down together,' US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil 'a point of irritation.' In a response to these comments at the Friday press briefing, Jaiswal said bilateral relationships between two countries should not be viewed in the context of a third nation. 'Our ties with any country are based on their own merit and should not be judged through the lens of our relationship with another country,' he said. Jaiswal also highlighted that India and Russia enjoy a long-standing and robust partnership. The spokesman said India's decisions on defense purchases are driven solely by national security needs and strategic considerations, adding that the country's energy sourcing is guided by market availability and global circumstances.
