American elites are counting on other Western countries to also refuse to comply with the terms of the Open Skies Treaty. The challenge for Russia is to avoid such a scenario.
On Sunday, November 22, the United States formally ended its obligations under the Open Skies Treaty. In this regard, Russia intends to seek guarantees of fulfillment of obligations from other countries participating in the agreement.
As stated in the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Washington expects that its “partners” will obstruct Russian observation flights over American military facilities in Europe, while providing the States with access to photographs of Russian territory.
“Of course, this is unacceptable for Russia”, – the Foreign Ministry emphasizes.
“We will seek firm guarantees that the states remaining in the OST will fulfill their obligations. Firstly, to ensure the possibility of observing their entire territory, and secondly, on the non-transfer of materials of observation flights to third countries that are not members of the OST”.