The current head of Russia's space program will be allow to come to the United States at a still-unannounced date even though he is under sanctions as punishment for Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.
The U.S. banned entry to and froze the assets of ex-Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, along with other officials it blames for Moscow’s seizure of the Crimean peninsula in March 2014. Rogozin, 54, oversaw Russia’s powerful arms industry before he was appointed to head the Roscosmos state space agency earlier this year.
Rogozin will now be able to travel to the U.S. under a workaround that removes the sanctions for the duration of his visit, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine told the state-run TASS news agency Friday.
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Underscoring the importance of Russian-U.S. cooperation in space despite geopolitical tensions on Earth, the NASA chief told TASS Rogozin’s visit would mark an important milestone in upholding a collaborative relationship.
“Whatever areas of disagreement the two countries have, we don’t want that to spill over into space,” Bridenstine was quoted as saying. “We certainly do not want terrestrial disputes to get in the way of what we can do together in space.”
Bridenstine was in Russia last week to oversee the launch of a two-man crew to the International Space Station which ended with rocket failure.
Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin and American astronaut Nick Hague were rescued unharmed after making a dramatic emergency landing in Kazakhstan ...
White House Temporarily Lifts Sanctions on Russia’s Space Chief for U.S. Visit (Moscow Times)