Moscow says Russia will fully leave Treaty on Open Skies late this year after US exit

Russia says late this year it will completely pull out of the Treaty on Open Skies, which allows reconnaissance flights over the entire territory of the parties to the treaty, months after the United States unilaterally withdrew from the key trust-building pact.

“Russia has notified all the member states about its decision to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty six months after sending a notice. Therefore, this will occur on December 18, 2021,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday, the TASS news agency reported.

The Open Skies Treaty was designed to build trust between Russia and the Western states in the late Cold War-era by allowing its 34 member states to carry out aerial surveillance flights over each other’s entire territory, including military sites, to observe the build-up of troops and movement of nuclear arms.

It was first proposed by then US President Dwight Eisenhower in 1955 and signed in 1992 by his successor, President George H.W. Bush, before formally coming into force in early 2002.

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Former US President Donald Trump, however, pulled out of the treaty in November 2020, accusing Russia of refusing to hold up to its side of the deal by denying flights over sensitive sites and military maneuvers, allegations that Moscow has roundly rejected.

Washington’s withdrawal came against the backdrop of similar moves by the Trump administration to quit major international agreements since he came to office in 2017.

The statement by the Russian ministry further said that Moscow had sent notices to Hungary and Canada as the document’s depository states and to the other member states through the embassies in the corresponding capitals.

“A request has been sent to the depository states of the Treaty on Open Skies to immediately inform all the member states of the corresponding notice and convene within the shortest time possible stipulated in the Treaty (i.e. in 30 days) a conference of the member states to examine the consequences of Russia’s exit,” it further read.

Putin signs Russian withdrawal from Open Skies Treaty after US exit

Russian President Vladimir Putin signs legislation on Russian withdrawal from the post-Cold War Open Skies Treaty.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 7 signed legislation to pull Russia out of the treaty. The Russian upper house voted on June 2 to withdraw from the treaty, leaving the matter up to the president to sign the legislation into law.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Russia had done everything for preserving the treaty and it is the US that bears full responsibility for its collapse.

The ministry also called on Western partners to realize that they would fail to ensure their security without taking the security interests of Russia and its allies into account.

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