Russia, NATO to Have Mutual Observation Flights Under Open Skies Treaty

Russian and NATO specialists would carry out mutual observation flights.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian experts will make flights over the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the inspectors from the United Kingdom and Romania will fly over Russia under the Open Skies Treaty, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Nuclear Risk Reduction Center said on Sunday.

"The observation flights will be carried out between May 30 to June 4, from the Pardubice Open Skies airfield [Czech Republic] and Malacky [Slovakia], with a maximum range of 800 and 1,170 kilometers [497; 727 miles], respectively," Sergei Ryzhkov said.

He added that the Russian experts will carry out the flights on the Antonov AN-30B, and the Czech and Slovak experts will be on board to monitor the use of the equipment and compliance with the treaty.

"On May 30-June 3, as part of the international Open Skies Treaty, a joint mission of the United Kingdom and Romania will perform an observation flight over the territory of the Russian Federation on a Romanian observation aircraft AN-30."

The Treaty on Open Skies was signed in March 1992 and became one of the major confidence-building measures in Europe after the Cold War. It entered into force on January 1, 2002, and currently has 34 states parties, including Russia and most NATO members.

Moscow ratified the Treaty on Open Skies on May 26, 2001.