Dmitri Peskov
Photo: Vladimir VELENGURIN
On Friday, April 12, a Kremlin official, at the beginning of a briefing for Russian and foreign journalists, said the following words:
…- I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate, perhaps on behalf of all the participants in our conference call, Alexander Gamov, whose birthday turns 70 today. Sash, we wish you all the best of health, endless creativity, and your irrepressible energy to continue.
-A matter of space, okay? – the Komsomolskaya Pravda journalist immediately asked, given that Cosmonautics Day is celebrated this Friday.
“Of course,” Peskov responded.
“I am very touched both by you, Dmitry Sergeevich, and by my colleagues. Thank you for your congratulations,” I continued. – Alexander Lukashenko stated yesterday – space is ours, yours and ours, thanks to you it has become ours. How did the Presidential Administration react to this formulation? That space was ours, but it has become common. And the second question, perhaps in passing. The previous administration included cosmonaut and presidential aide Yuri Baturin. Are there now such candidates for the cosmonaut corps? Could someone from Vladimir Putin’s administration go into orbit?
“I don’t know anyone in the current administration who wants to fly into orbit,” Peskov said. – In fact, in the current administration there are no astronauts.
But there are many people who have other talents and other achievements.
Second. In fact, the interaction, as I already said, between Russia and Belarus in the space sphere began much earlier. In fact, several Belarusian companies participated in the technological production chains of various elements of space technology.
This is a well proven practice.
Now in the cosmonaut corps there are also representatives of Belarus. And this practice will expand.
This was not a one-time flight. (We are talking about Marina Vasilevskaya’s flight from Belarus to the ISS. – AG) Yesterday the presidents said that Belarusian cosmonauts have already been trained and will continue to work in this detachment and contribute to the common cause of space exploration.
“Understood,” I continued. – Thank you so much. You can take this opportunity to remind us that three years ago she promised a gift to Komsomolskaya Pravda, but things did not turn out that way.
“Yes, we will keep this promise,” said the Kremlin’s official representative. – Necessarily. Again, happy birthday!
– Thank you so much.
