U.S. certifies Tu-214ON

Washington has apparently made an about-turn on its decision to certify the Russian Tu-214ON Open Skies reconnaissance aircraft.

Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-214ON Zherdin 1
By Dmitry Zherdin [CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL 1.2, CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL 1.2], via Wikimedia Commons


Sergei Ryzhkov, the chief of the National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center of the Russian Defense Ministry, told reporters that an American representative signed the final certification document on Sept. 24.

Two weeks ago, Ryzhkov complained to Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper that the U.S. side had refused to grant the certification.

Source

US refuses to certify Russian plane for Open Skies Treaty inspections