Democrats alarmed about possible U.S withdrawal from Open Skies treaty

WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Four senior Democratic lawmakers said on Tuesday they believe the Trump administration may withdraw from a treaty that allows unarmed surveillance flights over U.S., Russian and other territory, arguing this would be a gift to Russia and undermine confidence in the U.S. commitment to Ukraine.

"Pulling out of the Open Skies Treaty, an important multilateral arms control agreement, would be yet another gift from the Trump administration to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," said the senior Democrats on the House and Senate foreign relations and armed services committees in a letter to the U.S. secretaries of state and defense seen by Reuters.

(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)