Russia formally pulls out of Open Skies treaty; Cites US withdrawal and imbalance of interests as reasons

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law last week (June 7) which officially announced Russia’s exit from the Open Skies arms control treaty. The treaty permitted unarmed surveillance flights to fly over member countries.

The Russian government cited US withdrawal from the treaty in 2020 and Biden’s refusal to re-enter the pact as the reason behind its exit.

A Kremlin spokesperson said: “This (US withdrawal) caused serious damage to the treaty’s observance and its significance in building confidence and transparency, (causing) a threat to Russia’s national security.”

Russia had announced its plans to withdraw itself from the treaty in January 2021 itself. It cited the reason for the lack of progress on maintaining the functioning of the treaty after the US withdrawal.

US refuses to re-enter Open Skies Treaty

In November 2020, the US formally pulled out of the Open Skies Treaty under Donald Trump’s administration claiming that Russia had violated the agreement that allows the two nations and their allies to monitor each other’s airspace. But the new Biden administration had informed in May 2021 that it was reviewing the previous administration’s withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty.

However, the US State Department in May confirmed that the Biden administration has decided not to re-enter the Open Skies Treaty with Russia.

The State Department Spokesperson stated that the US regrets that the Treaty on Open Skies has been undermined by Russia’s violations and in concluding its review of the treaty, the US did not intend to seek to re-join it, given Russia’s failure to take any actions to return to compliance.

SamvadaWorld Staff