WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The National Geographic Society in the United States hopes to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Russia and continue cooperation with partners there, the Society’s Chairman John Fahey told Sputnik.
“We are hoping to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to continue to do some work,” Fahey said on Tuesday.
Fahey’s comments came following a film screening at the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC about exploration in Franz Josef Land in the Arctic.
Fahey explained the National Geographic Society plans to continue cooperation with Russia in the future.
The Society and its Russian partners have done scientific research in the past as part of the National Geographic Pristine Seas project in Franz Joseph Land.
The United States, the European Union members and other Western countries have imposed several rounds of economic sanctions on Russia over its alleged meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs and for participating in the armed conflict in Southeast Ukraine — claims that Moscow has repeatedly denied.
Fahey stressed that the sanctions have not affected scientific cooperation between the United States and Russia.
“We set the politics aside between our nations, and, in fact, the US State Department endorsed the work that we were doing with Russia. So, none of that got in the way,” Fahey said.
The National Geographic Society is moving and the State Department is fine with the mutual cooperation when it comes to scientific research, he added.
The National Geographic Society is a non-profit scientific and educational institution whose interests include geography, archaeology and natural science as well as promoting environmental and historical conservation.
