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RIA Novosti
US taking action in response to alleged non-compliance by Russia of the open skies Treaty that provides for mutual inspections of countries in the airspace of each other, said RIA Novosti the representative of US state Department.
“We have long been concerned about the observance by Russia of the Treaty on open skies. After repeated unsuccessful attempts at diplomatic communication with Moscow, we decided to take reasonable and proportionate measures in response to the failure by Russia (agreement — ed.)”, — said the representative of the state Department.
“We hope that this will change the calculations of Russia and encourage Russia to chat with us about our concerns in a constructive way. We are ready to cancel these arrangements at any time, if Russia will return to compliance with its obligations under the Treaty on open skies,” he added.
Earlier, the Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff US armed forces Joseph Dunford said that the United States “in June, informed Russia about violations of this Treaty.”
Previously, the newspaper the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. authorities are preparing to announce the imposition of restrictions on flights of Russian military aircraft over the territory of the United States under the Treaty on open skies.
The Treaty on open skies was signed in Helsinki on 24 March 1992 by representatives of 23 member States of the OSCE. Russia ratified the Treaty in may 2001. Parties to the Treaty can conduct overflights of each other’s territories to monitor military activities.
According to the newspaper, the preparation of restrictions on flights over the territory of the United States was a response of the us authorities to “ban the Kremlin to overfly Kaliningrad”.
The Kremlin urged US to put forward any claim under the contract in strict accordance with the document.