Putin Signs Bill Withdrawing from Open Skies Treaty Following US Exit from the Pact.

Vladimir Putin has signed a bill which will formally withdraw Russia from an international treaty allowing spy flights over member states.
It comes after Donald Trump withdrew the US from the pact last year, and President Biden said last month that he has no intention to re-enter the agreement.
The treaty – dubbed Open Skies – had allowed signatories to make short-notice, unarmed observation flights over other countries that had signed up to the pact, including over military bases.
The idea was to promote stability and prevent conflicts by giving each country a clear idea of what the others were doing, particularly when manoeuvering troops or military hardware.
Russia’s withdrawal will take effect in six months. The US completed its withdrawal in November last year.
President Biden and his Russian counterparts have signalled a desire to renegotiate some of the pacts, but relations between Washington and Moscow have dramatically soured since and the path forward is now unclear. /Compiled from wires