Russia announced its plan to withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS), ending its more than 20 years of collaboration with NASA, according to Moscow's space agency.
Yury Borisov, the newly appointed chief of Roscosmos, informed Russian President Vladimir Putin that the space agency has made "the decision to leave this station after 2024," as reported by CNN.
In the readout provided by the Kremlin, Borisov told Putin, "You know that we are working within the framework of international cooperation at the International Space Station."
Borisov continued, "Undoubtedly, we will fulfill all our obligations to our partners but the decision to leave the station after 2024 has been made.
No Official Pronouncement From Russia Yet
Robyn Gatens, director of the International Space Station for NASA, said that the American space agency had not received any "official word" from Russia about the decision to abandon the ISS.
The officer stated: "The Russians, just like us are thinking ahead to what's next for them. As we are planning to transition after 2030 to commercially operated space stations in low earth orbit, they have a similar plan. And so they're thinking about that transition as well. We haven't received any official word from the partner as to the news today, so we'll be talking more about their plan going forward."
The declaration comes amid heightened hostilities between Moscow and the West over the Russia-Ukraine war and many rounds of previously unheard-of sanctions against Russia, according to NDTV.
The International Space Station, which has been in orbit since 1998, has been jointly developed by Russia and the United States.
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Moscow Fulfills Its Promise
Russia has previously threatened to leave the ISS in the face of punishing the US and European sanctions related to the conflict in Ukraine. Before he was removed from office earlier this month, Borisov's predecessor Dmitry Rogozin, pledged to do so numerous times.
However, this most recent threat is more potent and appears to have Putin's approval. According to the meeting's transcript, Putin responded positively when Borisov informed him that Roscosmos would start developing its own space station beyond 2024.
Tuesday, a senior NASA source told Reuters that Russia has not made its intention to leave the ISS known.
Despite widespread criticism of Russia's activities in Ukraine, space cooperation remained one of the final opportunities for Moscow and the west to work together.
An agreement between NASA and Roscosmos earlier this month allows astronauts to continue using Russian rockets while allowing Russian cosmonauts to begin using SpaceX's commercial US rockets to travel to the ISS, per The Guardian.
According to representatives from NASA and Russia, the agreement guarantees that there will always be at least one American and one Russian on the ISS to maintain the outpost's flawless operation on both sides.
Nevertheless, given Moscow's increasing isolation, Borisov's most recent statement that Russia would be leaving the ISS was not shocking.
When the Russian space agency sparked outrage when it published photos of its cosmonauts on board the ISS celebrating Moscow's conquest of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine earlier this month.
