'Open Skies' Treaty Allows Limited Espionage Flights Over Both Countries

A U.S. spy flight was conducted over Russia ... with that government's consent ... under an "Open Skies" treaty that allows both the U.S. and Russia to conduct limited espionage missions over the other's territory.

But the flight didn't go without a hitch. The flight was originally scheduled for April 14th, according to a report appearing in The Washington Free Beacon, but was delayed because the U.S. flight crew did not arrive in Moscow as scheduled, and Moscow delayed setting a new flight time.

Russia is also apparently peeved that the U.S. has delayed certifying flights of a new high-tech aircraft developed for espionage missions.

The State Department, however, blamed the weather. "The U.S. Open Skies mission dated April 14 was delayed due to weather conditions beyond the time permitted by the treaty,” an official said in a statement. “The flight was rescheduled and on April 21, the U.S. Open Skies Treaty aircraft began its mission in the Russian Federation.”

The Russians tell a different story. An official said that the joint U.S.-Czech team did not show up at Kebunika, a town near Moscow, on time and requested a 24-hour postponement ... which they initially denied. Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich also told the ITAR-TASS news agency that “We have to state with regret that the American side, the only of the parties to the Treaty on Open Skies, has long been adhering to a highly non-constructive position on the examination of our digital observation equipment by putting forth requirements that are not provided for in the treaty.”

The cancellation coincided with troop movements that saw some 80,000 Russian soldiers and equipment mass near the border with Ukraine, and a U.S. official said that it appeared that Russia did not want the mission to watch those movements.

FMI: www.state.gov/t/avc/cca/os/