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Treasury Isn't Moving to Sanction Russian Rocket-Engine Maker

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  • Engines are depended on by Pentagon for satellite launches
  • McCain says Putin cronies control maker of RD-180 engines
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

 Photographer: NASA/Getty Images

The U.S. Treasury Department has reaffirmed that it’s not imposing sanctions on the Russian company that makes rocket engines used to launch U.S. national-security satellites, providing the latest twist in a two-year dispute.

Since Vladimir Putin’s intervention in Ukraine, U.S. Senator John McCain has campaigned against continued purchases of the engines made by NPO Energomash. McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says the company is “controlled by two sanctioned cronies” of the Russian president, Sergei Chemezov, chief executive officer of Rostec State Corp., and Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Rogozin.