(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) scow April 22 - The US position on the Open Skies Treaty is "very unconstructive" Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Monday commenting on the US decision to cancel an observation flight over Russia. On April 14 a joint US-Czech mission failed to arrive at the Kubina entry point in Russia at the agreed time (16:00 Moscow time). "At the request of the American side of the mission the arrival time was postponed for 24 hours. However neither the Americans nor the Czechs showed up in Kubinka. When a new request for a postponement came we rejected it for good reason taking into account among other things the fact that Russia had already sustained certain costs while waiting for the American observation plane" Lukashevich said. "These costs were incurred mainly by engaging our resources for providing practical support to the mission" he added. A new mission of the two abovementioned countries is to begin in Russia these days. "We have nothing to hide. If everything goes according to plan our American and Czech colleagues will have enough opportunities to see that Russia is not concentrating troops on the border with Ukraine" (Itar-Tass) quoted the spokesperson as saying. Moscow hopes that "the implementation of the Treaty will be safeguarded against the negative impact of considerations of expediency and that its members will strictly abide by their obligations" Lukashevich said. The Treaty on Open Skies entered into force on January 1 2002 and currently has 34 States Parties. It establishes a programme of unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of its participants. The treaty is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants regardless of size a direct role in gathering information about military forces and activities of concern to them. Open Skies is one of the most wide-ranging international efforts to date promoting openness and transparency of military forces and activities.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.