Russia is set to continue the deliveries of its rocket engines to the United States, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Saturday in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

Axar.az reports quoting TASS.

"They (the United States) have an interesting approach, they try not to harm areas in which they are interested. They say that "space is outside politics." We take the "space is outside politics" slogan into account, but nothing lasts forever," he said.

According to the Russian official, the US is interested in keeping the deal running, because their space launches currently depend on the delivery of Russian-made rocket engines.

An agreement between Moscow and Washington to deliver 101 RD-180 rocket engines to the United States and estimated to be worth about $1 billion was signed in 1997. The US Congress earlier prohibited the use of those engines after 2019, but had to lift the ban when it became clear that no replacement for them can be found in the coming years. Shortly after, the ULA space consortium ordered 20 more engines from Russian manufacturer Energomash, to be delivered until 2020.