European members of NATO told the United States on Friday they were uneasy about its plan to withdraw from the 35-nation Open Skies treaty that allows unarmed surveillance flights over member countries, an official of the defence alliance said. Justification of the US Withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty.
The Open Skies Treaty came into force in 2002 and is designed to boost confidence and assure against attacks. Washington has reacted to Russia’s limiting of the route over Kaliningrad by limiting Russian flights over and from Alaska, to such an extent that Russia’s planes can no longer fly over Hawaii and other Pacific Islands. The situation has not worsened so far. While the Open Skies Treaty allows aircraft to range a total of 5500km over a nation’s air space, Moscow has imposed a new 500km limit for Kaliningrad. However, Russia intended to fully follow all the rights and obligations under the treaty as long as the treaty is in force. … Flying blind Donald Trump abandons the Open Skies treaty. ... Russia allowed flights over Kaliningrad to resume. Moscow strongly regrets President Trump’s decision to leave the Open Skies Treaty. NATO Allies met today to discuss the Open Skies Treaty.
U.S. Withdraws from Treaty on Open Skies Published by Matt Fishman on May 21, 2020 May 21, 2020 United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced today that the U.S. will “withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies”. Deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev.
Photo: Thomas Nilsen. That included flight limitations over Kaliningrad and some areas near Russia’s border to Georgia. The Open Skies Treaty, which entered into force in 2002, aims to increase confidence and transparency between the United States, Russia, and European nations by allowing unarmed observation flights over the entire territory of its participants for information-gathering purposes. Between 2002 and 2016, the U.S. flew 196 flights over Russia compared to the 71 flights flown by Russia. U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper assailed Russia and said he has concerns about the Treaty on Open Skies. We all agree that all states party to the Open Skies Treaty must fully implement their commitments and obligations.
All NATO Allies are in full compliance with all provisions of the Treaty. We are firmly committed to the preservation of effective international arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation. It can be noted that the USA has used the treaty more intensively than Russia.
The treaty allows 34 countries to conduct unarmed surveillance flights over one another's territories -- including the US and Russia. America’s departure from another arms-control accord is a blow to its allies.
What is the "Open Skies" treaty?