Russia Wants to Oblige Members of Open Skies Treaty Not to Send Data to Third Countries, Lavrov Says

On Sunday, Washington officially confirmed that the US is no longer a party to the Open Skies Treaty, citing Russia's alleged "violations" of the agreement, which Moscow strongly rejected.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow would like to oblige all of the members of the Treaty on Open Skies to follow the agreement and not to provide the data they get to third countries.

"We are ready to continue cooperating within the framework of this important accord on the understanding that all remaining participants will comply with the requirements of this document, namely: the information that the participating countries receive while flying over each other's territories is intended only for those who remain in the agreement, and secondly, when the territory is presented for inspection, there can be no exemptions from it", Lavrov said.

Tu-214OS aircraft constructed in the network of The Treaty on Open Skies pictured on the territory of Kazan Gorbunov Aircraft Production Association that produces military and civil aircrafts.

© Sputnik / Maksim Bogodvid

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The Open Skies Treaty on observation flights was signed in 1992 and was set up to ensure transparency in post-Cold War Europe. It allows its 34 parties to openly collect information about one another's military objects, allowing special scheduled flights.

However, in May, US President Donald Trump announced that his country would leave the agreement, and in November the withdrawal was finalised. According to the Kremlin, this step makes the treaty frail.