MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/. Washington's sanctions against the Russian rocket and space industry do not affect the International Space Station (ISS) program, as the safety of the entire project depends on the enterprises involved, Alexey Varochko, the CEO of the Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center (part of Roscosmos), has told TASS in an interview.

"The ISS program is not affected by the sanctions. The safety of both Russian and US segments and the ISS as a whole depends on the functioning of enterprises involved in the ISS program," Varochko said when asked why the sanctions did not affect the ISS and whether any restrictions might be expected in the future.

The May 2019 amendments to the US National Defense Authorization Act restricted the use of Russian missile launch services. On February 25, the EU imposed its 10th set of sanctions against 33 Russian entities and one UAE-registered transportation company. The Khrunichev Center was among them.