MOSCOW. July 7 (Interfax-AVN) - The Open Skies missions of foreign inspectors in Russia have been focused on the Russian-Ukraine border in the recent months, a source familiar with the situation told Interfax-AVN.
"The flight routes are chosen in advance and may go above any part of the country. For instance, observers of the United States and a number of EU countries flying over Russia have been mostly focusing their routes on the border with Ukraine. These seem to be their priorities," the source said.
The Open Skies Treaty allows holding 42 observation flights in each member country and says the routes must be chosen in advance.
The Open Skies Treaty was adopted in 1992 and ratified by over 30 members in 1995. The primary objective of the treaty is to assist in the fulfillment of existent or prospective arms control agreements and to broaden a potential for crises prevention and settlement within the OSCE framework.
Earlier reports said up to 60 foreign inspection teams and missions visited Russia each year, and up to 15 inspections and 42 Open Skies missions were conducted in foreign states. Open Skies missions in Russia are performed aboard observation aircraft OS-135B, C-130, SAAB-340B, CN-235, Antonov An-30 and An-26. Open Skies missions in foreign countries are mounted on Antonov An-30B and Tupolev Tu-154M Lk-1.