Roscosmos to Convey Its Stance on ISS Cooperation to Putin in Near Future

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, will inform Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future of its opinion on whether to continue cooperating with Western partners on the International Space Station (ISS), Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin told Sputnik. "Our stance was recently discussed at the supervisory board of Roscosmos, which includes representatives of key ministries and departments related to the work of Roscosmos, and is headed by the relevant Deputy Prime Minister. We plan to report our position to the President in the near future," Rogozin said. On Saturday, Rogozin said that the Russian space agency will soon inform the Russian government of how it plans to terminate cooperation with its Western partners (i.e. the US, EU, Canadian, and Japanese space agencies) on the ISS. Rogozin pointed out that Russia and the Western countries could cooperate in space only after they lift all sanctions imposed on Russia. He also recalled that Roscosmos had turned to NASA, the European and Canadian space agencies with a demand to take measures to lift the sanctions imposed by the United States, Canada and EU countries on Russian enterprises of the RCC Progress, Russian Space Systems and the head institute TsNIIMash. Rogozin noted that the Mission Control Center is part of the latter, and without these three organizations, it is impossible to discuss the safe operation of the ISS. Earlier, the agency's chief said that, based on the responses the corporation received, the partners are not going to lift the sanctions. At the same time, normal relations are possible only with the complete lifting of sanctions, according to him. In turn, earlier this week, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that the cooperation between Russia and the US on the civilian space program will not stop because of the events in Ukraine. “Remember, this has been going on for a very long time. Remember, we started in the midst of the Cold War with the Soviet Union,” Nelson said, adding the Ukraine crisis will not alter the cooperative work. According to Nelson regarding the "professional relationship" in the civilian space program between the cosmonauts and the astronauts, "it is just steady” and "very professional." Read more: https://sputniknews.com/20220411/roscosmos-to-convey-its-stance-on-iss-cooperation-to-putin-in-near-future-1094657906.html