The US needs Russia to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. Plans for Rogozin to visit NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston had prompted protests from US senators. He observed the failed launch of a Soyuz rocket carrying two Russian and NASA astronauts who managed to make an emergency landing. He told TASS state news agency at the time that NASA had managed to temporarily lift US sanctions on Rogozin to allow him to visit. He recently joked Russia would send a mission to the Moon to “verify” whether NASA lunar landings ever took place.

Source: The Guardian January 05, 2019 09:33 UTC