MOSCOW, October 17 (Itar-Tass) — A group of British inspectors will have a flight over the territories of Russia and Belarus during the period from October 17 to 21, in accordance with the Open Skies Treaty, the Russian Defence Ministry's press service told Itar-Tass.
Their Saab-340 plane will fly from Kubinka airfield. The range of the flight will be up to 5,500 km.
It is a Swedish aircraft not designed to be equipped with any weapons. International-certificate equipment is installed aboard with the participation of Russian representatives. Russian and Belarussian specialists have agreed on the route. They will be present abroad the plane to monitor the observance of the agreements on the use of technical devices.
The Open Skies Treaty was signed by 27 states in 1992 and ratified by all the signatory countries in 1995. The main objective is to develop openness and transparency, help monitor the observance of existing and future agreements on control over weapons and enhance the capability for crisis prevention and crisis management within the framework of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and other international organisations. It is planned to extend the Open Skies regime to new areas, such as environmental protection.