PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2021) France regrets the Russian decision to leave the Open Skies Treaty and hope that Moscow will revise its stance on the issue, a spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry said.
On Friday, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the country was beginning procedures to leave the deal, as no progress had been made in removing obstacles that hinder treaty functioning after Washington's pullout. When the procedures are completed, Moscow will send a notification will to depositories.
"France regrets the Russian statement on its plans to initiate soon the procedure of withdrawing from the Open Skies Treaty, which is a pillar of the conventional arms control system as well as promotes peace and security on our continent ... We hope that the Russian Federation will revise its decision, which undermines the treaty itself, and, moreover, our efforts aimed at boosting mutual confidence and improving our collective security," the spokesperson said on late Friday.
The United Kingdom and Germany have already expressed their regret over the Russian plans to leave the treaty.
In May 2020, US President Donald Trump said that the US would exit the Open Skies Treaty due to alleged violations by Russia. In response, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that there were no breaches of the treaty by Moscow. The US officially terminated its participation in the treaty on November 22.
Moscow has since repeatedly asked the remaining parties to the agreement to confirm their commitment to abide by all of its provisions and provide legal guarantees of the confidentiality of data received during observation flights. But Russia has never received such guarantees. According to Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the US' withdrawal from the agreement made it unviable.
