Russia has said that it will halt its long-standing cooperation on the International Space Station (ISS) with Western countries until sanctions are repealed.

The restoration of normal contacts between partners at the International Space Station (ISS) and other joint space programs, according to Russia’s space director, would be achievable only once Western sanctions against Moscow are repealed.
The goal of the sanctions, according to Dmitry Rogozin, president of Roscosmos, is to “destroy the Russian economy and plunge our people into despair and famine, to bring our country to its knees.” “They won’t succeed,” he concluded, “but their objectives are apparent.”

“That is why I feel that the only way to restore regular relations between partners on the International Space Station (ISS) and other projects is for illegal sanctions to be lifted completely and unconditionally,” Rogozin stated.

Roscosmos’ proposals on when to stop collaboration with space agencies from the United States, Canada, the European Union, and Japan over the ISS will be reported to Russian authorities soon, according to Rogozin. He earlier stated that the sanctions could “destroy” the US-Russian relationship on the International Space Station (ISS).

The West has imposed broad sanctions against Russia in response to what Moscow refers to as a “special military operation” in Ukraine, which began on February 24.

Despite the tensions, a US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts arrived in Kazakhstan safely on Wednesday after departing the space station in the same capsule.

Last month, the European Space Agency said that it was halting cooperation with Roscosmos on the ExoMars rover mission, which is looking for indications of life on Mars’ surface.

After canceling a March 4 launch of 36 satellites from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan due to last-minute constraints made by Moscow, British satellite startup OneWeb said last month that it had contracted with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to deliver its satellites into orbit.