Russia's Response To US Exit From Open Skies Treaty To Depend On NATO Reaction - Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Russia's response to Washington's withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty will depend on the reaction of NATO member states, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday, adding that experts believe that the United States has already made the decision to exit

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st April, 2020) Russia's response to Washington's withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty will depend on the reaction of NATO member states, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday, adding that experts believe that the United States has already made the decision to exit.

"Experts who monitor the situation believe that Washington has already made the decision. We believe that there is a significant share of truth in these estimates. We are drawing basically the same conclusions based on our contacts with Americans, with other NATO member states and with other parties to the Open Skies Treaty. Our reaction to Washington's planned, potential or possible decision will depend on how the decision is formulated, on what it means exactly.

And we will certainly have to see whether any NATO allies will follow Washington," Lavrov said at a roundtable meeting with members of the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund.

The Open Skies Treaty, signed in 1992, allows signatories, including the US and Russia, to conduct surveillance flights over each other's territories to collect data on military activities. US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said in March that the country had "a lot of concerns about the treaty as it stands now." Moscow, in turn, has expressed regret over US officials' attempts to use the treaty as "leverage in internal political games."