Partnering with Russia
“As we take these steps together to renew our strength at home, we cannot turn away from our obligation to renew our leadership abroad. This is a promising moment. Because of the agreements we have reached this year, last year, Russia's strategic nuclear missiles soon will no longer be pointed at the United States, nor will we point ours at them. Instead of building weapons in space, Russian scientists will help us to build the international space station.”
Since the inception of the new International Space Station, the Clinton administration pushed to make Russia a primary partner in the endeavor. The first stage of this collaboration was the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission, created by President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin at the Vancouver Summit in April 1993. In December 1993, the United States officially invited Russia to become a full partner in the creation of the International Space Station and Russia agreed. This agreement began a new era of cooperation in space as the former American and Russian rivals became partners in a series of joint missions.
The International Space Station project gave Russia incentive to adhere to nuclear non- proliferation by providing other technological advancement aspirations and allowed Russian scientists and engineers the opportunity to develop projects and earn income outside of the military and intelligence apparatus. This incentive was made explicitly clear in the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000, in which Section 6 bans U.S. payments to Russia in connection with the ISS unless the President of the United States determines that Russia is taking steps to prevent the proliferation of weapons to Iran. Collaborating also stabilized the struggling Russian economy, as the United States provided monetary support. Highly visible U.S.-Russian cooperation in human space flight was intended to be emblematic of a changed U.S.-Russian relationship overall.
Vice President’s Statement to the Press, June 23, 1994.
On June 23, 1994, Vice President Gore announced the Gore- Chernomyrdin Commission had agreed upon a contract that funneled $400 million into the Shuttle-Mir project. For the first time Russia was included in the planning, and the International Space Station (ISS) officially commenced.