MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin believes that cooperation between Russia and the US in space must not be covered by sanctions and must be as pragmatic as possible at the same time.

"We believe that no sanctions or hostile acts should affect space [issues]. It’s another matter that we still have to be as pragmatic as possible in relations with Americans. If they want something, we must get something else in return, we must make their wishes dependent on our demands," he said in an interview with the Russia 24 TV channel, elaborating that large space researches must be done by joint efforts of the global community, as they "cost too much."

In this regard, Rogozin stressed, the US creates problems in space cooperation with Russia. "They have blocked the sale of microtechnology equipment for our space tool engineering, they are unfairly fighting with us on the space market and so on. At the same time, they are flying on board our Soyuz spacecraft and delivering their astronauts to the ISS [International Space Station,] as well as flying with our engines," the deputy prime minister noted.