Russia follows US to withdraw from Open Skies Treaty | Defense News - AP |

Russia said it will withdraw from an international treaty allowing observation flights over military facilities following the U.S. exit from the pact.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the U.S. withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty last year "significantly upended the balance of interests of signatory states," adding that Moscow's proposals to keep the treaty alive after the U.S. exit have been cold-shouldered by Washington's allies.

The ministry said Russia is now launching the relevant procedural moves to withdraw from the pact "due to the lack of progress in removing the obstacles for the treaty's functioning in the new conditions." The Russian parliament, which ratified the treaty in 2001, will now have to vote to leave it.

The treaty was intended to build trust between Russia and the West by allowing the accord's more than three dozen signatories to conduct reconnaissance flights over each other's territories to collect information about military forces and activities.

U.S. President Donald Trump declared Washington's intention to pull out of the Open Skies Treaty in May, arguing that Russian violations made it untenable for the United States to remain a party. The U.S. completed its withdrawal from the pact in November.

The Open Skies Treaty: NATO's Eyes Over Russia

Trump Administration Adds Pentagon 'Space Force' to U.S. Spy Agency Group | US News - Jan. 8, 2021 |