Russian space agency bemoans head’s canceled US trip
Russia’s space agency is complaining that the invitation for its head to visit the US has been canceled without the organization having been informed.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told The Washington Post in a story Saturday that he has rescinded the invitation to Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin after several senators raised complaints.
Rogozin is under US sanctions for his role in the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, when he was a deputy prime minister.
Roscosmos spokesman Vladimir Ustimenko tells state news agency Tass that “it seems strange to us that our NASA colleagues dealt with us through the media and not directly.”
Russian lawmaker Frants Klintsevich says the decision shows that “the US political establishment doesn’t intend to change its Russophobic vector.”
— AP
