US to withdraw from Open Skies Surveillance Treaty
- The US will withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty, a major accord that permits unarmed aerial surveillance flights over 34 participating countries, citing repeated Russian violations of its terms.
- India is not a member of this treaty that came into force on January 1, 2002. Most of the participating countries are in North America Europe and Central Asia.
- The Open Skies Treaty allows each state-party to carry out short-notice, unarmed, reconnaissance flights over the others’ territories to collect data on military forces and activities.
- President Donald Trump blamed Russia’s non-compliance with the treaty for such a decision by the United States.
- “Russia didn’t adhere to the treaty, so until they adhere, we will pull out. But there’s a very good chance we’ll make a new agreement or do something to put that agreement back together,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US will submit notice of its decision to withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies to the Treaty Depositaries and to all other states party to the Treaty.
- “Effective six months from tomorrow, the United States will no longer be a party to the Treaty,” he said, adding that the US would, however, reconsider its withdrawal should Russia return to full compliance with the Treaty.
- This is not a story exclusive to just the Treaty on Open Skies, unfortunately, for Russia has been a serial violator of many of its arms control obligations and commitments,” Pompeo said.
- Pompeo alleged that Russia has refused access to observation flights within a 10-kilometer corridor along its border with the Russian-occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, thereby attempting to advance false Russian claims that these occupied territories are independent states.
- Russia’s designation of an Open Skies refuelling airfield in Crimea, Ukraine, is similarly an attempt to advance its claim of purported annexation of the peninsula, which the United States does not and will never accept.
- Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell in a statement alleged that for years, Russia has systematically violated the terms of the Open Skies Treaty to the detriment of the US, its allies, and partners.
About US-
- The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles’ Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.
- Capital– Washington, D.C.
- Currency– United States Dollar
- President– Donald John Trump
About Russia-
- Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia.
- Capital- Moscow
- Currency- Russian Rouble
- Prime Minister– Mikhail Mishustin
- President- Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin
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