MOSCOW (AP) — Russia may consider returning to an international pact allowing surveillance flights over military facilities if the United States reverses its exit, the top Russian diplomat said Tuesday. Moscow announced last month that it will leave the Open Skies Treaty following the U.S. exit last year. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after Tuesday’s talks in Moscow with Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde, that “if the United States fully returns to observing the treaty, the Russian Federation would be ready to constructively consider that new situation.” Lavrov’s statement comes days after Russia and the United States last week reached a last-minute agreement to extend their last remaining nuclear arms control pact, the New START treaty, that was due to expire on Feb. 5.
