The aim of "Open Skies" is arms control and confidence building. But now the United States is withdrawing from the mutual military air surveillance agreement. Leading US Democrats warned of this move early on.
Washington (dpa) - The United States want to withdraw from a contract between NATO countries and former members of the Warsaw Pact for mutual military air surveillance.
The United States would no longer abide by agreements that would be violated by other contractors, US President Donald Trump's National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said on Thursday regarding Russia. The Open Skies agreement allows the 34 signatory states to perform several observation flights per year in the airspace of the contracting parties.
According to the Federal Ministry of Defense, the flights serve "arms control and building trust in difficult times of security policy". Representatives of the observing and observed states always take part in all flights.
The US government criticizes that Russia continues to "shamelessly" violate its contractual obligations, as a Department of Defense spokesman said. For example, Russia limits control flights over the Russian exclave Kaliningrad, which "reduces transparency in a very militarized area," said spokesman Jonathan Hoffman. This also applies to the border between Russia and Georgia, he said.
According to experts, overflights for the US military have also become less important thanks to the latest surveillance satellites. The U.S. State Department said in 2016 that the over skies under the "Open Skies" contract "provided valuable information, especially for our allies and partners who do not have the same surveillance capabilities as the United States."
The United States has already left numerous international agreements under President Trump, including the nuclear agreement with Iran, the Paris climate agreement and the INF treaty banning land-based mid-range nuclear weapons. The latter had been concluded between the United States and the then Soviet Union and was the most important nuclear disarmament treaty for Europe.
Leading Democrats in Congress warned the government late last year that the agreement would be withdrawn. That "would be another gift from the Trump administration to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," it said in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.
In 1992, NATO and the states of the former Warsaw Pact had agreed on mutual military surveillance "from Vancouver to Vladivostok". The contract entered into force in 2002.
Open Sky Treaty, German text of the contract
State Department on Open Skies Agreement, English
Federal Ministry of Defense on the agreement
Letter from leading US Democrats in October, English