Russia May Complete Procedures to Leave Open Skies Treaty by Summer - Diplomat

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd February, 2021) Russia may complete domestic procedures to leave the Treaty on Open Skies, which enables its signatories to exchange unarmed military surveillance flights, by the summer unless the United States reverses its withdrawal, the head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control said on Monday.

"Domestic procedures for the withdrawal of the Russian Federation from the Treaty are ongoing. We expect them to be over by this summer. If the U.S. does not inform us by then of its willingness to return to the Treaty, Russia will send a note to the Depositaries, Hungary and Canada, notifying them of its withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies," Konstantin Gavrilov said, as quoted by the delegation on Facebook.

The diplomat reiterated that Moscow "will not wait indefinitely" for the US to determine whether it is ready to return to the treaty, warning that not much time is left for thinking.

The US formally withdrew from the treaty in November. In January, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Moscow was initiating the procedures to leave the Open Skies Treaty over the disruption of balance of interests after Washington's pullout.