{"id":67350,"date":"2021-02-02T20:26:38","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T20:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/02\/02\/russia-hints-it-may-return-to-open-skies-treaty-if-us-does\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:47:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:47:05","slug":"russia-hints-it-may-return-to-open-skies-treaty-if-us-does","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2021\/02\/02\/russia-hints-it-may-return-to-open-skies-treaty-if-us-does\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia hints it may return to Open Skies Treaty if US does"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MOSCOW \u2014 Russia may consider returning to an international pact allowing surveillance flights over military facilities if the United States reverses its exit, the top Russian diplomat said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moscow announced last month that it would leave the Open Skies Treaty<\/a> following the U.S. departure from the pact last year, adding that Russian proposals to keep the treaty alive after the U.S. withdrawal have been given the cold shoulder by Washington\u2019s allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after Tuesday\u2019s talks in Moscow with Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde, the current chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, that Moscow could still mull the return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the United States fully returns to observing the treaty, the Russian Federation would be ready to constructively consider that new situation,\u201d Lavrov said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t