“As far as the international relations go, that has not changed at all. We’ve had 40-plus year relationship with our international partners and with the Russian colleagues as well,” Marshburn said. “[O]ne of the greatest legacies of the space station will be that we are all living together, all the international partners, we are working together, we are doing what I believe to be great things and we rely on each other for our survival. So, on the space station that has not changed at all."
Marshburn said working with all partners on the ISS has been not only productive but also very pleasant.
"We’ve been able to maintain that relationship to stay safe, stay alive, get a lot of good work done, maintain the space station and keep it going,” he said.
On Friday, a US SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft capsule landed in the Atlantic Ocean, returning four astronauts from the ISS, where they performed various tasks since 21 November. They include NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn, Raja Chari and Kayla Barron as well as European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Mathias Maurer of Germany.
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Sergey Korsakov and Denis Matveev, as well as US astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins and Italy's Samantha Cristoforetti remain aboard the ISS.
On 24 February, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics requested help to defend them against intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defence Ministry said the special operation solely targets Ukraine's military infrastructure and aims to demilitarize and de-Nazify the country. In response, the United States and its allies have imposed comprehensive sanctions against Russia.