Photo: Gennady Cherkasov
Russian Foreign Ministry comments on Moscow and Washington withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty. They stressed that its effectiveness will now decline sharply. In particular, its field of application is reduced by about 80%. And the number of open skies missions planned for 2022 will also be significantly reduced.
As stated in the statement on the Agency's website, all responsibility for the degradation of the treaty regime lies with the United States. collapse initiator & # 39; & # 39; DON. On the other hand, Russia did not make the decision to participate in the Don without any problems. But Moscow has taken the move “to strengthen international security.” The RF has conducted 646 observation missions in 20 years. It also took over 449 of the 1580 observation flights over its territory. And Russia was also the first country to switch to digital surveillance equipment within the OON.
Russia suspended its commitments under the Open Skies Treaty and withdrew on 18 December. The decision was made on June 18. A number of other countries, including Belarus, have left the agreement with Moscow.
The Open Skies Agreement was signed by OSCE participating States in March 1992. The agreement provides for unhindered access by States to airspace for observation flights. However, in May 2020, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington was withdrawing from the treaty. Russia's alleged repeated breach of contract has been reported. Moscow has denied the allegations.