The two spacecraft docked on this day 35 years ago.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with space pilots at the museum of the spacecraft manufacturer Energia. The museum's exhibition includes the space capsule in which the Soviet participants of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, Alexei Leonov and Valery Kubasov, returned to Earth.
While speaking with cosmonauts Mr Leonov, Mr Kubasov and American astronauts Vance DeVoe Brand and Thomas Stafford, Prime Minister Putin noted that the participants of this project had seriously contributed to strengthening relations between Moscow and Washington. The prime minister said that the docking of Soyuz with Apollo in July 1975 was a major political event, signifying a change in relations between the Soviet Union and the United States. "Thousands of people were involved in this project but its success depended on you, and you met this challenge," Putin stated. He also said that the events that happened 35 years ago marked the beginning of the two countries' close cooperation in space, which has continued to this day. The prime minister gave the example of the International Space Station, to which Russia and the United States have been major contributors. Russia plans to carry out 300 research experiments through this programme, with 40 experiments already underway.
In his turn, Mr Stafford thanked Prime Minister Putin and offered him a commemorative medal marking the 35th anniversary of the docking. In response, the prime minister gave watches to the four spacemen and books on Russian history to Mr Stafford's stepsons. The prime mister and the space pilots spoke in Russian. The veteran American astronauts were also able to do so, despite their advanced ages, without the help of an interpreter.