The U.S. decision to revoke an invitation for Russia’s outspoken space chief to visit the country has outraged Russian lawmakers.

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine has rescinded the invitation for his sanctioned Russian counterpart Dmitry Rogozin to visit the United States next month in an effort to “be accommodating” to U.S. senators who had opposed the invite. The U.S. space agency initially postponed Rogozin’s visit but then decided it was “best to withdraw the invitation entirely” late last week as criticism mounted.

“It’s strange for us that colleagues at NASA are communicating with us through the media, not directly,” the state-run TASS news agency quoted a spokesman for the Roscosmos state space agency as saying Sunday.

The spokesman, Vladimir Ustimenko, added that the Russian agency is still waiting for clarification from NASA representatives.