Russia on Friday said it was withdrawing from the Open Skies treaty, undermining a post-Cold War defence accord that allows its signatories to carry out unarmed surveillance flights over each other's territories.

Citing "lack of progress" on maintaining the functioning of the treaty after the United States withdrew from it last year, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement it was beginning "domestic procedures for the Russian Federation's withdrawal from the Open Skies treaty."

The agreement was signed soon after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1992 and came into force in 2002.

It allowed its nearly three dozen signatories to carry out short-notice flights over one another's territory to monitor potential military operations.

Members include countries across Europe, the former Soviet Union and Canada.

Last year Washington announced it would be leaving the treaty after accusing Russia of violations, including blocking flights over certain sites and forbidding surveys of military exercises.

The Russian foreign ministry said Friday that the United States had used a "fictitious pretext" for its withdrawal and had disturbed "the balance of interests of the participating states".

The ministry said Russia had put forward proposals to retain the "viability" of the agreement but did not receive support from Washington.

The pact allows its members to request copies of images taken during surveillance flights carried out by other members.

The country under surveillance is given 72-hours' warning ahead of a flight and 24-hours' notice of the flight path, to which it can suggest modifications.

- 'Unfortunate scenario' -

Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Russian parliament's upper house, said Moscow's decision to leave Open Skies was "predictable" as the other member states did not fulfil its terms.

In a post on Facebook on Friday, the lawmaker said Russia requested the remaining signatories to confirm that they would not transfer information obtained under the Open Skies agreement to Washington.

The United States, like many Open Skies treaty members, is part of the NATO alliance.

"The blame for what is happening -- and this is a very unfortunate scenario -- is entirely on the United States and NATO allies," Kosachyov wrote.

While Moscow and Washington have frequently accused each other of violations, NATO argued for the preservation of the accord.

On Friday, the alliance's deputy spokesman Piers Cazalet said Russia's "selective implementation" of its Open Skies duties had for a while undermined the treaty's contributions to regional security.

"All NATO Allies remain committed to effective international arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation -- which are essential for our security," Cazalet said in a statement.

- Weakening arms control -

The Open Skies pact is one of three major treaties Washington abandoned under the adminstration of outgoing President Donald Trump.

In 2018, the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran deal, which curbed Tehran's nuclear programme in return for an easing of international sanctions.

Iran suspended several of its own commitments under the 2015 deal in retaliation.

Washington also pulled out from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia, further straining already tense relations between Moscow and Washington that in recent years have reached their lowest point since the end of the Cold War.

With President-elect Joe Biden due to step into office next week, one of the first challenges he will face in bilateral relations with Russia is negotiations over the extension of the New START treaty.

The accord, which is Washington's last remaining arms reduction pact with Moscow, is set to expire on February 5.

As for Open Skies, the Russian foreign ministry does not expect a Biden administration to usher the United States back into the treaty, the head of its arms control unit, Vladimir Yermakov, said Friday.

"You see what policy the United States has now -- diametrical opposition to any agreements on arms control," state news agency TASS quoted him as saying.

The Open Skies Treaty: NATO's eyes over Russia
Brussels (AFP) Jan 15, 2021 - The Open Skies Treaty, which Russia says it is leaving after the US quit last year, was agreed just after the Cold War to allow signatories to avoid nasty surprises by monitoring rival militaries.

Moscow and Washington had long accused each other of breaching its terms, and President Donald Trump formally pulled the US out last November.

Trump's administration said the Kremlin had "weaponised" the treaty to target "critical infrastructure" in the US and Europe and prevented American flights over its exclave Kaliningrad.

The US withdrawal came despite the dismay of Washington's European allies, who remain attached to the treaty as part of their continent's security architecture.

Now Moscow has announced it is pulling out as well after a "lack of progress" in keeping the treaty functioning following the US decision to quit.

The Russian foreign ministry said Friday that the United States had used a "fictitious pretext" for its withdrawal and in doing so disturbed "the balance of interests of the participating states".

It said Russia had put forward proposals to retain the "viability" of the treaty but did not receive support from Washington.

During Trump's tenure the United States withdrew from two major international accords -- the Iran nuclear deal and the Open Skies treaty -- and pulled out of a centrepiece arms control agreement with Russia, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.

- Observation -

The Open Skies Treaty made it possible to conduct joint unarmed observation flights over the territories and to take images using sensors of a predefined resolution.

It also allowed signatories to request copies of all images taken during overflights carried out by others.

Overflights have been governed by quotas, negotiated annually and assigned to specific aircraft. The United States, for example, was allowed to operate Boeing OC-135 planes with infrared scanners.

The country under surveillance has been given 72 hours' warning of a flight and 24 hours notice of the route, to which it can suggest modifications.

The treaty laid down which air bases can be used for the flights and at which points they can cross into each other's air space. Russia and the US had four such bases each.

A committee to oversee the implementation of the treaty came together in Vienna every month at the headquarters of the Organisation of Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe.

"Its unique feature consists in the fact that during overflights, representatives of both the observing state and the observed state can sit together in one aircraft," said Alexander Grief and Moritz Kutt, researchers at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy in Hamburg, in a report.

They warned the US withdrawal would be an important loss for its NATO allies in Europe as most of them did not possess satellite reconnaissance capabilities.

Beyond the US and Russia -- the remaining signatories of the treaty are Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom. Kyrgyzstan has signed, but not ratified the treaty.

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