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Moscow would want to remain party to the Open Skies Treaty, says diplomat

Konstantin Gavrilov noted, that Russia does not see that US is ready for dialogue on strategic stability so far

MOSCOW, April 29/TASS/. Russia would want to continue being a party to the Open Skies Treaty, but it has to withdraw following the US withdrawal, Konstantin Gavrilov, head of Russia’s delegation to the Vienna negotiations on military security and arms control, told Rossiya-24 television on Thursday.

"We would like to be a party to this treaty. This is not our decision, we have to quit following the US withdrawal," the diplomat said.

If both the US and Russia withdraw from the treaty, Europeans should get more concerned about their security. "We and the Americans will find means to ensure [strategic security]," he added.

Gavrilov reiterated that in due time Russia had been urged to join the treaty, and it was not Moscow that initiated the withdrawal. "There is still time for them to express their opinion until the end of May, as the Russian leadership announced. After that procedures will be launched that may be irreversible," the head of the delegation summed up.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on April 8 that Moscow expected Washington to clarify its position on the treaty and stressed that Russia had not received a US note stating that Washington’s return to the Treaty on Open Skies could send the wrong signal to Moscow.

Moscow does not see any practical signals of Washington being ready for a dialogue on strategic stability so far, Gavrilov said.

"In practice, we do not see anything during the talks here, we do not see any movement from the side of our American and European colleagues," he said, answering a corresponding question.

On Wednesday, Bonnie Jenkins, nominee for the position of US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control, said that the current US administration is ready for dialogue on strategic stability with the Russian government.

On Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov informed during a session at the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) dedicated to the crisis of the arms control system that Moscow had offered Washington to begin the dialogue on strategic stability in the spirit of the statements made by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly.

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