MOSCOW: Russia on Friday said it was withdrawing from the Open Skies treaty, undermining a 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 Russian foreign ministry said in a statement it was beginning “domestic procedures for the Russian Federation’s withdrawal from the Open Skies treaty.”
The agreement 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”.
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