Joint US, Italian Mission Performing Observation Flight Over Russia

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The representatives of the United States and Italy will perform the observation flights over Russia from August 17 to 22, under the international Treaty on Open Skies, said Sergey Ryzhkov, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry's National Center for Nuclear Risk Reduction.

"From 17 to 22 of August, in the framework of the international Open Skies Treaty, a joint mission of the United States and Italy will perform an observation flight over the territory of the Russian Federation on the American observation aircraft OC-135B, from the airport at Novosibirsk [Tolmachevo]," Ryzhkov said.

The OC-135B Open Skies United States Air Force observation aircraft belongs to a class of aircraft not intended for the use of weapons. The aircraft and its equipment installed for the observations, such as the aerial cameras, have passed the international certification in which the Russian specialists participated. Such certification eliminates the possibility of using technical means not stipulated by the Treaty.

The Open Skies Treaty was signed in March 1992 and became one of the major confidence-building measures in Europe after the Cold War. It entered into force on January 1, 2002, and currently has 34 States Parties, including the majority of the NATO countries, as well as Russia, and neutral countries such as Sweden and Finland.

The treaty allows participating countries to openly gather information on the each other's military forces and activities. The flights of Russia and NATO countries are usually held on a reciprocal basis.