MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. Russian inspectors will perform an observation flight over the territory of Italy within the framework of the Open Skies Treaty, a senior Russian Defense Ministry official said Monday.
"The surveillance flight with the maximum range of up to 2015 kilometers will be performed on February 15-19, 2016, from the Rome-Ciampino airport," chief of the ministry’s National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center Sergey Ryzhkov said.
He said the flight would be conducted along an agreed route, and Italian specialists on board will control the use of surveillance equipment and observation of treaty provisions.
This will be the third observation flight by Russia over the territories of the Open Skies treaty members in 2016.
The Open Skies Treaty was signed in 1992 and has 34 member states. It entered into force in 2002. Surveillance flights are conducted over Russia, the United States, Canada and European countries.
The key tasks of the treaty are to develop transparency, monitor the fulfillment of armament control agreements, and expand capabilities to prevent crises in the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other international organizations.