NEW YORK, April 5. /TASS/. US astronaut Mark Vande Hei called his Russian crewmates friends and commended them as professionals amid the situation in Ukraine.

"It was not a topic I shied away from my crewmates," he said at a news conference on Tuesday. "They weren't very long discussions, but I did ask them how they're feeling and sometimes ask pointed questions."

But the focus, Vande Hei said, was on the mission.

"Speaking specifically about my relationship with my Russian crewmates, they were, are and will continue to be very dear friends of mine," he said. "We support each other throughout everything."

"I never had any concerns about my ability to continue to work with them," the astronaut continued. "Very good professionals, technically competent and wonderful beings, so I will always be happy that I was able to be on the space station with them."