19 September 2016, 01:05 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The United States and Germany will conduct an observation flight over Russia's territory under the Open Skies Treaty this week, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Nuclear Risk Reduction Center said Monday.
"From October 10 until October 14… within the framework of implementation of the international Open Skies Treaty, a joint mission of Germany and the United States will perform an observation flight over the territory of the Russian Federation in a Swedish Saab-340B observation aircraft," Sergei Ryzhkov said.
According to the official, Russian and Belarusian experts will be on board of the aircraft to monitor compliance with the agreed parameters of the flight.
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.
