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Parties to Open Skies Treaty fail to encourage US to resume participation, says diplomat

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov says Russia does not see signs indicating that the US and its allies are willing to somehow specify their approach

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov Russian State Duma/TASS

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov

© Russian State Duma/TASS

MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. States party to the Treaty on Open Skies have done nothing to encourage the United States to return to the treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said at a meeting of the Russian State Duma (the lower house of parliament) on Wednesday.

"As far as we know, no one, including the countries that aren’t formal NATO members and maintain the so-called neutrality, took practical steps to encourage Washington if not to fully reconsider but at least to clarify its position and preserve the prospects for further efforts to ensure the US returns to the treaty," he pointed out.

"As for how these counties took our decision, they either said nothing or repeated baseless grievances about Russia’s implementation of the treaty, which we had rejected many times," Ryabkov explained.

According to him, Russia does not see signs indicating that the US and its allies are willing to somehow specify their approach.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the State Duma unanimously approved a bill on Russia’s withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies, which had been submitted by President Vladimir Putin.

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