On June 4, 2021, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin held a phone call with the newly appointed NASA administrator Bill Nelson. The main topic for discussion was the continuation of Russian-American cooperation in space and first of all under the program of the International Space Station.
During the call the head of NASA positively estimated the bilateral interaction in space that began with the docking under the Soyuz — Apollo program in 1975, as well as claimed the intention to continue the operation of the ISS till 2030 in case sufficient state funds are allocated. While supporting the head of NASA, Dmitry Rogozin noted the complete fulfillment of the obligations of the Russian side to support the ISS operation from and shared the plans to develop the Russian segment of the station.
Therewith, the head of Roscosmos stated several questions that had been initiated by the US side earlier and now are substantially hindering the cooperation. First of all this is about the sanctions introduced by the American administration against the enterprises of the Russian space industry, as well as the absence of any official information in Roscosmos from the US partners on the plans to further control and operate the ISS
Besides, Dmitry Rogozin also announced a number of initiatives to organize Russian American corporation in the field of fundamental space research. The parties agreed to activate talks in all fields, including the face-to-face meeting format. Until the end of June 2021 Russian European negotiations on the expert level are scheduled, including under the GLEX 2021 conference program. They had a Roscosmos also invited Nelson to come to Russia, and the invitation was accepted.