OREANDA-NEWS. The State Duma denounced the Open Skies Treaty, the decision was unanimous.

The Federation Council originally planned to support the document on the same day, but the day before it became known that the meeting was postponed, presumably, to early summer.

The Open Skies Treaty (OST) came into effect on January 1, 2002 and became one of the confidence-building steps among Europian countries after the Cold War: it let 34 countries which signed it to gather information about each other's military forces and activities openly.

In May last year, the United States launched a termination procedure, which ended on November 22.

In January 2021, Russia also warned about the launch of interdepartmental procedures for withdrawing from the Don. It was specified that Washington's actions significantly upset the equilibrium of interests of other states.

Vladimir Putin appointed Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as the official representative for the consideration of this issue by the Federal Assembly. The Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stressed that Russia will not make concessions in this area.

According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Russia will withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty around December, in accordance with procedural rules.