MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. The decision on cooperation with foreign partners on the International Space Station will not be Roscosmos’ independent decision, Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said Saturday.
"This will not be an independent decision of Roscosmos, because our cooperation program is defined by an inter-government agreement. We will make this decision after Roscosmos performs its analysis and reports its position to the national political leadership," Rogozin said on Russian TV.
The CEO underscored that the proposals on further operation of the International Space Station will be forwarded to the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin. Earlier, Rogozin said in his Telegram channel that Roscosmos will provide its proposals shortly.
The sanctions against the Russian space industry will be either long-term or permanent," Rogozin said.
"Therefore, we must get used to [live] in the new circumstances. And, if we respect ourselves, and have a feeling of national and state dignity, then we must act accordingly. We, Russians, Russian people, we were the first in space, and we will not allow anyone to dictate us how to work and with whom," he said.
According to the CEO, NASA promised to continue working with US federal agencies in order to ensure an uninterrupted work of Russia’s partners on the ISS.
"I will underscore: in a sense, it is an exemption from sanctions. That is, they need the ISS, they cannot cope without the Russians, because nobody but us can deliver fuel to the ISS, nothing but our cargo spacecraft engines can correct the ISS position, allowing it to evade space debris. But nobody cancels the sanctions," he added.
Previously, Rogozin said that he sent letters to NASA, European and Canadian Space Agencies regarding withdrawal of sanctions against TsNIIMash and the Progress rocket center. The CEO underscored that corporation would wait for a response until March 31, after which it will make a decision on the timeframe of the ISS operation.