U.S. OKs Russian Overflights Despite Worries About Intrusive Surveillance
Source: RFE/RL
WASHINGTON -- The United States has authorized a Russian surveillance jet to overfly U.S. territory as part of an international treaty, closing a dispute that had elicited vocal criticism from some lawmakers over the technology being used by the Russians.
The decision, made by an interagency government group, focused on the scope of the Open Skies Treaty, a 14-year-old agreement that aims to increase transparency and international security by allowing member nations to fly over each other's territory and monitor military installations or other objects.
The final decision to authorize the Russian flights was made after consultations in Moscow that wrapped up June 28, according to a U.S. official with knowledge of the process. Earlier this year, the Russian government formally requested that its specially outfitted Tupolev Tu-154 jet be allowed to conduct an overflight of U.S. territory.
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Those doubts were deepened by the U.S. State Department’s compliance reports, which said Russia had put some restrictions on U.S. surveillance flights, particularly around the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad, and near the Caucasus region, where Georgia is located.
Read more: http://www.rferl.org/content/us-oks-russian-overflights/27826694.html
