New Delhi: Russia on Tuesday announced to quit the International Space Station "after 2024", said the newly-appointed chief of Moscow's space agency told President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, as reported by the news agency AFP.
“Of course, we will fulfil all our obligations to our partners, but the decision to leave this station after 2024 has been made,” Roscosmos chief Yury Borisov said in comments released by the Kremlin as reported by news agency Al Jazeera English.
“The decision to leave the station after 2024 has been made,” Borisov said.
Russia had also announced in the year 2015 that it would be a part of the ISS till the year 2024. Then Russia said that after the year 2024, it would separate the Russian module from the ISS and build its space station in low Earth orbit.
This decision comes days after Putin relieved the head of the country's space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, of his duties, according to a decree released by the Kremlin. Putin signed the decree, firing him as General Director of Roscosmos after four years of service. The Kremlin has appointed Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov as the new director of Roscosmos after Rogozin's tenure as head of the Russian space agency has come to an end.
The change was reported shortly before Roscosmos said it had signed a landmark deal with NASA in regards to coordinated flights and crews on the International Space Station (ISS) - an uncommon occurrence of participation among Russia and the United States at a time of acute tension over the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin didn't remark on the purposes behind the change.
Rogozin had taken a fierce position since Roscosmos was hit with sanctions for its role in Russia's defence industry after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine.
He had taken steps to pull out of the ISS, expressing cooperation with the West was "impossible," and distinctly boasted about Russia's nuclear potential.