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The United States has officially abandoned the Treaty on Open Skies, a multilateral agreement on transparency in arms control, with accusations that Russia is “perverting” the pact, the US State Department confirmed on Sunday.
“The United States is no longer a party to the Open Skies Treaty,” said the Department’s brief statement led by Mike Pompeo, some six months after outgoing President Donald Trump announced his decision to break the treaty. , despite the objections raised by the European allies, who fear that the decision will lead Russia to also prohibit the overflow of its territory by the Baltic countries, which is useful for controlling movements.
This agreement of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), in force since 2002, allows its member states to fly over any part of the territory of other participants, taking photos from the sky, to ensure that their neighbors or rivals don’t. they are preparing for military attacks.
The US argument for the withdrawal is that Russia prevents them from controlling their military exercises from the air and does not allow flights over regions where Moscow is believed to have nuclear weapons that can reach Europe, namely in Kaliningrad and around. of the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The US secret services also believe that Russia can use its flights over US territory to identify US infrastructure that could be vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Russia’s reaction was not long overdue and came via Twitter from the Russian ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov.
“As of today, the United States is no longer a party to the Open Skies Treaty. Significant development. Let us not forget that US participation was a precondition for the entry into force of the Treaty. Now, the question is what Russia will do. All options are open at this stage, ”the diplomat wrote.
Germany also commented on the American withdrawal from the international pact, with the Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, “deeply” regretting the withdrawal from the US. However, the leader of German diplomacy stressed that the German position “on the treaty does not change” and remains committed to an agreement considered “essential”.
Heiko Maas added that Germany also supports a “complete modernization of conventional arms control in Europe” and stresses that this requires “the adaptation of existing multilateral agreements” and “the creation of new mechanisms to build mutual trust” in order to be prepared for the challenges to peace and security in this century.
Although the US presidency passed to Joe Biden in January, after the victory over Trump in the November 3 elections, it is not yet clear whether the Democrat wants to bring the country back to the treaty.
On the other hand, the president-elect’s arms control priorities include extending the New Start nuclear weapons deal with Russia and rescuing the nuclear deal with Iran.
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