KOROLYOV. Oct 4 (Interfax) - Russia hopes the political interests of certain groups in the United States do not hinder international space cooperation, Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said.
"We need to work in respectful cooperation, as we've done on the ISS [International Space Station]. If we suddenly realize that politics is getting the upper hand, we will work with other partners, we are not short of them," Rogozin told reporters on Thursday.
Russia has not closed the doors on cooperating with the U.S. on the Lunar Orbital platform, he said. "We have never closed the doors. We were simply saying that we cannot participate de facto as a side-horse," he said.
He stressed that Russia is interested in taking part in international space projects, but only on a mutually beneficial basis. "If you do an advanced international space program on work in outer space, it has to be mutually beneficial," Rogozin said.