President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are holding a joint meeting with Marina Vasilevskaya, a member of the 21st space expedition to the ISS, and pilot-cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky in the Kremlin, BELTA reports.
It's symbolic that the meeting of the heads of state with the astronauts of Belarus and Russia is held on the Day of Cosmonautics. Recently Marina Vasilevskaya and Oleg Novitsky have returned from orbit. This event is especially significant for Belarus: it is the first time in the history of the sovereign republic that its citizen has made a space flight. Marina Vasilevskaya had her own task on the ISS - to conduct a number of studies for the Belarusian science.
Vladimir Putin congratulated the cosmonauts and all those who work in this industry.
Alexander Lukashenko, in turn, once again thanked the Russian side for cooperation in space and support.
"For you it is commonplace, for us it is big news, because the first female cosmonaut was in space. The first Belarusian cosmonaut of independent Belarus. And Oleg is ours: he was born near Minsk. His mom lives there, we met recently. It's symbolic. That's why I am very grateful to you. It's not just a tribute that we are here. If you had not given the go-ahead and agreed then, there would not have been this flight. Thank you for Marina and thank you that Oleg was the commander of this flight. This is our unity: he was born in Belarus, served in the Soviet Union."
