Moscow, Feb 12 (UNI) Russia will be forced to take countermeasures if the United States withdraws from the Open Skies Treaty, Foreign Ministry's Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control Director Vladimir Ermakov has said.
Reports on the US' intention to withdraw from the treaty, which enables its 34 participants to fly over other countries' territories to check on compliance with disarmament agreements, first emerged in October.
"The US side has not made any official statement on its plans to leave the Open Skies Treaty. However, we regret its possible intention to do so over Russia's alleged violations. If Washington decides to abandon the deal, we will be forced to provide an adequate response. We believe it is too early to discuss publicly what measures we could implement," Ermakov said in an interview with Sputnik, slamming Washington's claims of Russia's violations of the deal as groundless.