MOSCOW, September 01, /ITAR-TASS/. A group of British military inspectors will make observation flights over the territory of Russia within the frames of the Open Skies Treaty starting on Monday, a high-ranking Russian military official said.

Ruslan Shishin, an acting head of the Russian National Centre for Reducing Nuclear Threat, said that British inspectors will make observation flights over the territory of Russia between September 1 and 5, flying Swedish reconnaissance aircraft SAAB-340B.

He added that the flights would be conducted along earlier agreed routes and Russian specialists on board the aircraft will accompany the British inspectors controlling the use of surveillance equipment as well as observation of the treaty’s provisions.

The Open Skies Treaty was signed in 1992 and currently boasts 34 member states. The treaty 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 within the frames of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other international organizations.

A group of Russian military inspectors will make observation flights over the territory of Germany within the frames of the Open Skies Treaty starting on Monday, a high-ranking Russian military official said.

Ruslan Shishin, an acting head of the Russian National Centre for Reducing Nuclear Threat, said that Russian inspectors will make observation flights over the territory of Germany between September 1 and 5, flying Swedish reconnaissance aircraft Antonov An-30B.

He added that the flights would be conducted along earlier agreed routes and Italian specialists on board the aircraft will accompany the British inspectors controlling the use of surveillance equipment as well as observation of the treaty’s provisions.