A USAF Boeing OC-135B Open Skies. / Wikipedia
Bloomberg: Russia to Limit U.S. Military Flyovers in Tit-for-Tat Response
* Kremlin to restrict base usage under Open Skies Treaty
* Moscow-Washington relations are the most strained in decades
Russia plans to limit the number of airbases the U.S. can use to launch reconnaissance flights under the Open Skies Treaty, in a fresh sign of its deteriorating relationship with Washington.
The restrictions will be introduced Jan. 1 in response to U.S. measures to limit Russian military flights in its airspace, said Georgiy Borisenko, head of the Foreign Ministry’s North American department, according to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
Read more ....
Update#1: Report: Russia to limit US military observation flights (The Hill)
Update #2: Russia to 'limit' access to airfields for US observation planes after Alaska & Hawaii restrictions (RT)
WNU Editor: Russia has been threatening to do this for a while .... Russia to respond to US restrictions on observation flights (RT). My guess is that since there has no shift on U.S. policy when it comes to "Open Skies", the decision was made that by today the Kremlin would impose its own retaliatory measures. This is unfortunate .... even though much of today's intelligence gathering is done by satellites, the Open Skies Treaty was implemented to foster trust and openness between Russia and the U.S.. It looks like that trust does not exist anymore.
