Russian Federation and the United States are signatories to the treaty, which allows unarmed observation flights over the entire territory of all 34 member nations.
Tupolev Tu-154M - reportedly left Moscow early Wednesday morning before heading to Iceland and then the USA, circling the D.C. area.
"They come here just like we go there", the official said.
Russian Federation typically flies Open Skies missions over command infrastructure, key locations, and other critical infrastructure, a US official said.
The flights, first reported by CNN, are conducted under the Open Skies Treaty of which 34 countries participate.
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A Russian aerospace force plane on Wednesday performed an observation flight over central Washington and the suburbs of the US capital city, including Pentagon, the Central Intelligence Agency, the US Congress and the White House, CNN said later in the day citing two anonymous sources informed about this flight made under the Open Skies Treaty.
The U.S. Capitol Police gave a heads-up to a potential flight over the Capitol between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. After each flight, the host nation gets a copy of any imagery taken by the observation aircraft.
"The United States is notified ahead of time of the intended flight path of observation flights, participates in the development of agreed flight plans, has USA observers on the aircraft during the flight, and receives a copy of the imagery taken by the Russian aircraft at the conclusion of the mission", she stressed.
Senior U.S. intelligence and military officials have expressed concern that Russian Federation is taking advantage of technological advances to violate the spirit of the treaty.
Steve Rademaker, former assistant secretary of state for the bureau of arms control and the bureau of global security and nonproliferation, told Congress in past hearings that Russian Federation complies with the Open Skies Treaty, but has adopted measures that are inconsistent with the spirit of the accord. "We put together the flight plan and with a few exceptions - safety-wise or weather-wise - they are allowed to fly over pretty much the entire territory".
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