MOSCOW. Oct 8 (Interfax) - Washington has made no official notifications about its possible walkout from the Treaty on Open Skies, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"No official statements so far have been made regarding the United States' withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies. American lawmakers from time to time make these kinds of statements, which the Russian Foreign Ministry does not comment on," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.
She answered so to a question from the media about the statements from the U.S. Congress about the plans of a possible pullout from the Treaty, which entered into force in 2002 and promotes openness and transparency of military forces and activities by permitting unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the territories of the treaty's 34 party states.
"We view the Treaty on Open Skies as an important instrument of ensuring European security along with the 2011 Vienna Document on confidence and security building measures. We welcome the resumption of the full-scale implementation of the Treaty on Open Skies in 2019 and the preliminary distribution of active quotas of observation flights for 2020," Zakharova is quoted on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying.
Russia "adheres to implementing the Treaty's commitments and displays its utmost flexibility to preserve the Treaty," she said.
"Lifting the ban on flights within the 10 km zones along the borders with Abkhazia and South Ossetia set an example of that, with the understanding that the permanent nature of this decision will depend on Georgia's diligent fulfilment of its commitments for hosting Russian missions. Tbilisi's position unfortunately has not changed yet," Zakharova added.