The headlines this morning screamed “Russian surveillance plane soars over the Pentagon, Capitol and other Washington sites,” “A Russian military jet flew over the US Capitol and Pentagon at a low altitude”

But the details are in the “nut graphs” and in the Treaty on Open Skies. Under the Open Skies Treaty, first signed in 1992, 34 countries including the U.S. and Russia allow member states to conduct unarmed observation flights in order to foster transparency about military activity and help monitor arms control and other agreements. WASHINGTON: An unarmed Russian Air Force jet flew over the US Capitol CIA headquarters and Joint Base Andrews at low altitude as part of a treaty that allows the militaries of Washington and Moscow to observe the other from the air.The flight was part of the Treaty on Open Skies, which allows military aircraft from the US and Russia and other nations to fly aerial observation flights to observe military sites of the 34 signatory nations, reports CNN.The Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-154 on Wednesday afternoon passed at around 3,700 feet over downtown Washington and the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland where Air Force One is based, according to tracking website Flightradar24.The jet is authorised to enter P-56, the highly secure airspace surrounding the White House.A law enforcement source told CNN that the plane also overflew Camp David, the Presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountains, the Trump National Golf Course in Virginia and Mount Weather, one of the US government's secret relocation bunkers.The Open Skies Treaty has been in effect since 2002. A second flight by the same jet is planned for between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday, when the Russian jet will overfly Bedminster, New Jersey, where President Donald Trump is vacationing, according to two people familiar with the US government-approved flight. An unarmed Russian Air Force aircraft overflew the US Capitol, the Pentagon, Central Intelligence Agency and Andrews Air Force Base at low altitude on Wednesday as part of a longstanding treaty that allows the militaries of the United States and Russia to observe the other from the air, according to two people familiar with the flight.
Unarmed Russian Air Force reconnaissance jets, under the authority provided by international Open Skies Treaty, fly over several Washington, D.C., area government buildings and landmarks as well as the President's residence in Bedminster, New Jersey.