Radio Free Europe 6/7/2021
President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that formalizes Russia's withdrawal from an international treaty allowing nations to collect information on one another’s military forces in order to increase transparency, following the departure from the accord by the United States late last year.
The document was published on the official portal of legal information on June 7 after Putin signed it.
The parliament's upper chamber, the Federation Council, voted last week to exit Russia from the Open Skies Treaty. The lower chamber, the State Duma, approved the move last month.
The accord, which entered into force in 2002, allowed its 34 signatories to conduct short-notice, unarmed observation and surveillance flights over one another's territories to collect data on military forces and activities. More than 1,500 flights have taken place under the agreement.
More:
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-open-skies-treaty/31294144.html
