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Russia won’t change its stance on Open Skies Treaty to please US, senior diplomat says

Earlier, US Deputy Secretary of State informed of the US decision not to reenter the Treaty on Open Skies

MOSCOW, May 31. /TASS/. Russia has no intention of changing its position with regards to its withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies to please the US, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told journalists on Monday.

"The form in which they [the US] expressed their decision not to rejoin the Treaty on Open Skies makes me think that they still count on us changing our behavior somehow. And we don’t know in which part we should change our behavior. If it’s in the direction that they propose, then it’s simply not possible," he said.

"We now have other aspects of working with the US where our signals possibly don’t please them in every way. These are routine issues," the senior diplomat added.

On May 27, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman informed the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov of the US decision not to reenter the Treaty on Open Skies.

On May 19, the Russian State Duma unanimously passed a law on denouncing the Treaty on Open Skies. On May 31, the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs unanimously supported the law on denouncing the Treaty on Open Skies and recommended to the upper chamber of the parliament to approve it at the June 2 meeting.

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