Moscow. January 15. INTERFAX-Moscow has decided to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty (DON) due to the imbalance caused by the termination of participation in the agreement by the United States-NATO countries could continue monitoring Russia, and the territory of the alliance leader was closed from observation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"The current situation is absolutely unacceptable for us, since, in fact, all NATO members would still have the opportunity to observe the entire territory of Russia, and the territory of the alliance's leader - the United States - was closed from Russian surveillance," Zakharova said in a comment published on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
She noted that the US withdrawal from the DON "radically" changed the configuration laid down in the formation of the open skies regime, and violated the balance of interests of the participating states: US participation in the treaty was one of the most important conditions for its ratification in the Russian Federation and entry into force.
According to the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russia continued to fulfill its obligations under the DON, despite a number of gross violations by the United States, and "made every possible effort to save the Treaty" after Washington withdrew from it.
She recalled that the Russian side offered the remaining participating states to provide guarantees of compliance with the obligations not to transfer to the Americans data obtained during observation flights over the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as the possibility of observing their entire territory, including the US military facilities located there.
"We counted on a constructive approach from the Western countries, which so loudly declared their commitment to the DON. However, their political orientation towards the United States proved to be more important for them than preserving an important instrument of pan-European security. They evaded a direct answer, pointed to the fact that the relevant obligations are allegedly already contained in the Contract itself and offered to continue the discussion in the working bodies of the DON, " Zakharova added.
"All this looks like an artificial prolongation of the issue in a situation when - according to our information from various sources-Washington, in the course of contacts with European allies, requires them to commit to sharing with the Americans surveillance data on the territory of Russia," she stressed.
