The Russians are struggling to find the funds to fulfil their commitment to help build and resupply the International Space Station (ISS).

It is reported that the nation's space agency has written to its US counterpart, Nasa, asking to discuss "temporarily suspending" the platform.

Russian space officials said on Thursday they did not have the money to build the Soyuz "taxi" and Progress cargo vessels needed to keep the ISS operating.

"The situation (in the Russian space industry) is difficult" and "there are risks" that the ISS operations may be suspended, Russian Space Agency spokesman Sergei Gorbunov said.

Moscow has a commitment to send six unmanned Progress cargo vessels to the ISS and two manned Soyuz capsules each year.

"We can only launch two (freighters next year), just to maintain the orbit of the ISS and keep it from plummeting to Earth," space official Valery Ryumin was quoted as saying in the daily Trud.

Nasa is also facing severe financial constraints and has also announced that it will reduce its contributions to the ISS but has not yet said by how much.

The ISS is currently manned by the Expedition Five crew. A Progress cargo ship was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Wednesday to take new supplies to the platform.

Nasa is preparing the space shuttle Atlantis and a six-member crew for a mission to the platform next week. This will see another large truss section added to the structure.