Russia is preparing to sign deals with a number of post-Soviet, Asian and Middle Eastern countries to train their cosmonauts and create telecommunication and remote sensing satellites, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said during the Russian Space Forum.

"Preliminary work is being carried out with a number of countries from the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States], Asia, Africa and Middle East to train national cosmonauts for manned space missions and to create telecommunication and remote sensing satellites," he said.

Therefore, space remains an area bringing countries from various continents closer, Manturov added. In his words, Russia has always been open to cooperation on all types of activities in space.

"We believe that this cooperation should be deepened in accordance with the principle of equal access to space, respect for national interests and the need to preserve space for future long-term use for peaceful purposes," the first deputy vice premier said.

Manturov also emphasized Russia’s readiness to broaden global cooperation on space agenda.