Putin approves Russia’s withdrawal from Open Skies Treaty

Moscow, Jun 7 (Prensa Latina) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed the law to withdraw the country from the Open Skies Treaty (OST), a decision taken earlier by the United States, according to the legal information website.

June 7, 2021
08:39

The law was unanimously approved in the last few weeks by the Federation Council (Senate) and the State Duma, the two chambers of the Russian Parliament.

On May 27, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman informed Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov about Washington’s decision not to return to the OST.

The United States officially withdrew from it in November 2020, under the justification that Moscow allegedly violated a series of provisions of the Treaty.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a communique on January 15 about the beginning of internal procedures to withdraw the country from that agreement of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The OST includes 31 European countries, in addition to Canada and Turkey. It is considered one of the most international efforts in pursuit of military transparency and the cooling of the arms race.

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