Putin envoy expects Russia to hold talks with Elon Musk on plans for Mars flights

MOSCOW (Reuters): Russia sees big prospects to work with the United States, including in the space sector, and expects to hold talks with Elon Musk soon about flying to Mars, President Vladimir Putin’s international cooperation envoy said on Tuesday.

Kirill Dmitriev, who was named by Putin last month as his special envoy on international economic and investment cooperation, said Russia’s “enemies” were trying to derail US President Donald Trump’s efforts to restore dialogue with Russia.

Trump was due to speak with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to try to convince the Russian president to accept a ceasefire in his country’s war with Ukraine and move towards a more permanent end to the three-year-old conflict.

Dmitriev said Russia wanted to work with SpaceX CEO Musk as part of Moscow’s efforts to strengthen and develop Russia’s space agency Roscosmos and state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

“I think that there will undoubtedly be a discussion with Musk (about Mars flights) in the near future,” Dmitriev said at a business forum in Moscow, going on to praise Musk’s efforts to push the boundaries of human achievement.