MOSCOW — The European Space Agency has approved Russia's involvement in a joint Mars exploration project, the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos said on Thursday.

The ESA has been developing the Exo-Mars project that envisages two separate missions to Mars in 2016 and 2018, Roscosmos said.

"Europe gave its principal consent to Russia's participation in the project and the negotiations are underway," Roscosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin told a Moscow radio station.

Although Russia was capable of independently achieving all the tasks, including manned travel to the moon, the international projects were more advantageous and appealing for the Russian space program, Popovkin said.

"International cooperation allows us to select the most advanced scientific equipment in the world. The efficiency of these missions is much higher," he said. (PNA/Xinhua)

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