Yuri Koptev, director general of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (Rosaviacosmos) told SPACE.com that he and NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin have agreed to give these working groups one week to try to reach a compromise.

The Dennis Tito Story

Russians Refuse NASA Training Without Tito An international incident cropped up at Johnson Space Center Monday when Russian cosmonauts headed for the ISS in April refused to begin training after fellow crewman Dennis Tito was excluded from the exercises.

Cosmonauts Told to Resume Training, Station"s First Skipper Comments New marching orders to cooperate and resume work are on their way thismorning from Moscow to the Russian cosmonauts in Houston who staged a Texas standoff with NASA officials on Monday.

NASA denies that Russia has the right to fly Tito to the International Space Station April 30, arguing that the station is at a delicate phase in its construction and a tourist could get in the way.

The debate came to a head Monday, when NASA officials refused to allow Tito to train with his would-be crewmates, Talgat Musabayev and Yuri Baturin. In protest, the two cosmonauts boycotted their own exercises until Rosaviacosmos ordered them to resume training.

After the working groups negotiate, Koptev said, the two space chiefs are to meet in Japan on April 2 and April 4 to discuss whatever these groups agree -- or disagree -- on.

Koptev's comments came shortly after he watched the destruction of Russia's space station Mir -- the original destination of Tito's reported $20 million flight.

During the contention between the two agencies, both Koptev and Russian aerospace magnate Yuri Semenov, the president of RSC Energia -- the company that operated Mir -- have stuck to their guns, insisting that Tito "should and will" fly.

"We have signed a contract with this person and we must honor it," Semenov said.