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Russia leaving Open Skies military treaty

Published : Saturday, 16 January, 2021 at 12:00 AM  Count : 301

MOSCOW, Jan 15: Russia's foreign ministry said Friday it is withdrawing from the Open Skies treaty, undermining the post-Cold War defence accord that allows its signatories to carry out unarmed surveillance flights over each other's territories.
Citing "lack of progress" on maintaining the functioning of the treaty after the United States withdrew from it last year, the ministry said in a statement it was beginning "domestic procedures for Russia's withdrawal from the Open Skies treaty."
The treaty was signed soon after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1992 and came into force in 2002.
It allowed its nearly three dozen signatories to carry out short-notice flights over one another's territory to monitor potential military operations.
Members include countries across Europe, the former Soviet Union and Canada.
Last year Washington announced it would be leaving the treaty after accusing Russia of violations, including blocking flights over certain sites and forbidding surveys of military exercises.
The Russian foreign ministry said Friday that the United States had used a "fictitious pretext" for its withdrawal and had disturbed "the balance of interests of the participating states".
The ministry said Russia had put forward proposals to retain the "viability" of the treaty but did not receive support from Washington.
The pact allows its members to request copies of images taken during surveillance flights carried out by other members.
The country under surveillance is given 72-hours warning ahead of a flight and 24-hours notice of the flight path, to which it can suggest modifications.
Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Russian parliament's upper house, said Moscow's decision to leave Open Skies was "predictable" as the other member states did not fulfil its terms.
In a post on Facebook Friday, the lawmaker said Russia requested the remaining signatories to confirm that they would not transfer information obtained under the Open Skies agreement to Washington.
The United States, like many Open Skies treaty members, is part of the NATO alliance.
"The blame for what is happening -- and this is a very unfortunate scenario -- is entirely on the United States and NATO allies," Kosachev wrote.    -AFP










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