MOSCOW, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The United States and Turkey are carrying out observation flights over Russian territory under the Open Skies Treaty, the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday.
"The observation flight will be carried out between Oct. 3 and Oct. 7 on a Turkish CN-235 aircraft, with Russian experts on board to monitor its compliance with the treaty," said Sergei Ryzhkov, head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Nuclear Risk Reduction Center.
The observation flights are part of the confidence-building measures in Europe after the Cold War under the international Open Skies Treaty, which provides unarmed aerial surveillance flights between member states.
The treaty was signed in March 1992 and took effect on Jan. 1, 2002. It currently has 34 member states, including Russia and most NATO members.
