Russian lawmakers vote to follow US out of overflight treaty – By Vladimir Isachenkov (The Associated Press) / May 19 2021
MOSCOW — The Russian parliament’s lower house voted Wednesday to withdraw from an international treaty allowing surveillance flights over military facilities following the U.S. departure from the pact.
The Russian exit from the Open Skies Treaty is yet to be endorsed by the upper house of parliament and needs to be signed by President Vladimir Putin to take effect. Moscow has signaled its readiness to reverse the withdrawal procedure and stay in the treaty if the United States returns to the agreement.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian lawmakers Wednesday that if the U.S. declares its intention to return to the pact, a “new diplomatic process will start.” He added, however, that he considers that unlikely.
The withdrawal vote came hours before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were to hold their first meeting on the sidelines of a gathering of top diplomats from the Arctic countries in Reykjavik, Iceland. They are expected to focus on setting the stage for a planned summit next month between U.S. President Joe Biden and Putin.
