The United Kingdom urges Russia to rethink its decision and not withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty, a UK Foreign Office spokesperson told RIA Novosti.
Earlier in the day, the Russian lower house unanimously denounced the agreement.
“The UK calls on Russia to reconsider its decision, return to full compliance with the Treaty and engage constructively with the other signatories,” the spokesperson said.
Russia’s withdrawal “disappointed” London, according to the statement.
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The Open Skies Treaty was signed in 1992 and became effective ten years later to allow the signatories to conduct unarmed observation flights over each other’s territories on short notice.
The United States announced its unilateral withdrawal from the treaty last May and completed the process in November, citing alleged violations by Russia.
Russia has denied any violations and accused Washington back of non-compliance. In December, Moscow said it would withdraw, too, if other signatories refuse to guarantee non-sharing of data from their observation flights over Russian territory with the US. The Russian government launched the withdrawal procedure on January 15.