WARSAW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2021) The Polish Foreign Ministry on Monday expressed disappointment over Russia's decision to launch the procedure to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty.
On Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the start of procedures to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty, due to lack of the progress in removing obstacles that hindered the functioning of the treaty after US withdrawal.
"We were disappointed by the statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry about starting domestic procedures for withdrawing from the Open Skies Treaty. The treaty has so far been an important part of the European security architecture, serving for confidence building and transparency in military activities," the foreign ministry said.
The ministry said that Poland, together with other states, made numerous efforts to persuade Russia to return to the full implementation of the treaty, but this did not bring the expected results.
The Polish side noted that the consequences of Russia's decision would be the subject of close coordination between the states still part of the Treaty.
The Open Skies Treaty was signed in 1992 and went into effect ten years later. It allows 34 participating countries to conduct unarmed observation flights over each other's territories.
In May, US President Donald Trump declared that Washington was pulling out of the treaty due to Russia's constant violation of the treaty. The US completed the process of exiting the deal in late November.
