IAF Determined To Continue Cooperation With Russia, Ukraine - Executive Director

Daniyal Sohail Published April 07, 2022 | 08:28 PM

The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is determined to continue cooperating with Russia and Ukraine as the organization has a code of conduct not to ban any party based on traits like nationality, IAF Executive Director Christian Feichtinger told Sputnik on the sidelines of the Space Symposium

COLORADO SPRINGS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2022) The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is determined to continue cooperating with Russia and Ukraine as the organization has a code of conduct not to ban any party based on traits like nationality, IAF Executive Director Christian Feichtinger told Sputnik on the sidelines of the Space Symposium.

"We are, of course, determined and open to continue cooperation with all nations, and specifically with all our member organizations, including those from Ukraine, from Russia," Feichtinger said.

He also acknowledged that many of the IAF's 433 members from 72 countries are concerned about what is going on in Ukraine.

"But we have also a code of conduct that says very clearly that the IAF is committed to having organizations and people, and not ban people based on any characteristics like gender or nationality," he said.

The IAF, he added, was created during the times of the Cold War in order to bring the world together. Specifically at these times the East and the West could not freely meet in a bilateral setting, but only in a multilateral setting.

"And since then, we have followed our mission to connect space people," he said. "Space has always been the the domain where we can combine countries or people. And we, up to today, are following, of course, this mission."

On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. In response, the West rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow, which includes airspace closures and restrictive measures targeting numerous Russian officials and entities, media and financial institutions.