MOSCOW, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Spain and Canadian inspectors will conduct observational flights over the Russian and Belarusian territories under the international Open Skies Treaty, a senior Russian defense official said on Monday.
"The flights will be carried out between Oct.31 and Nov. 4 on a Canadian aircraft C-130," the Ria-Novosti news agency quoted Sergei Zabello, the acting head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, as saying.
He added that the Russian and Belarusian experts will also be on board of the C-130. They will monitor the agreed flight parameters and the use of surveillance equipment adherence to the contract.
The flight is part of the confidence-building measures in Europe after the Cold War under the international Open Skies Treaty, which establishes a program of unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of its 34 state parties, including Russia and most members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The treaty was signed in March 1992 and took effect at the beginning of 2002.
