Trump Announces US Withdrawal from Open Skies Treaty

US President Donald Trump on Thursday, May 21, announced that the United States is going to pull out of the Open Skies Treaty. According to the American leader, the United States will not participate in the agreement while Russia allegedly is not abiding by it. However, despite this, as Trump emphasized, now there is a high chance of concluding a new agreement, Gazeta.ru writes. “I think we have very good relations with Russia, but Russia did not adhere to the treaty (on Open Skies. - Ed.). So until they adhere, we will pull out (of the treaty). At the same time, this is a very good chance to reach a new deal or return the agreement,” Trump said. In turn, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that the US withdrawal from this agreement would take toll at Europe’s military security system. At the same time, Grushko noted that Moscow did not receive official notifications from Washington about withdrawal from the treaty. On April 21, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov considered that the United States had already decided to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty. In turn, the head of the American diplomatic mission in Moscow, John Sullivan, then said that the US was considering all possible scenarios for implementing the Open Skies Treaty. The Open Skies Agreement was signed on March 24, 1992 in Helsinki by representatives of 23 states that are members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (ОSCE). The purpose of the treaty is to help build confidence between states through improving mechanisms for monitoring military activities.