Moscow. January 22. INTERFAX - The US Embassy in Moscow does not comment on individual visa cases, but Washington highly appreciates cooperation with the Russian Federation on the ISS and pays attention to issuing visas to astronauts.
"We cannot comment on individual visa cases. But the United States appreciates the important bilateral cooperation on the International Space Station," the American diplomatic mission told Interfax, commenting on the situation with the refusal to issue an American visa to Russian cosmonaut Nikolai Chub.
"Despite our serious personnel problems, the Embassy in Moscow continues to pay attention to issuing visas for astronauts so that they can meet with their colleagues from NASA in a timely manner," the embassy representative said.
Earlier on Saturday, a source told Interfax about the US refusal to issue an entry visa to Russian cosmonaut Nikolai Chub. According to the source, he was supposed to arrive at the Johnson Space Center for training.
The head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, in turn, said that he would request the position of the head of NASA in connection with the situation.
Later, Rogozin called the refusal of a visa "a dangerous precedent for cooperation on the ISS."
"It never occurred to us to refuse a visa to any US astronaut who was heading to Star City to prepare for a space flight," he stressed.
