U.S. Officially Withdraws from the Treaty on Open Skies

On November 22, the United States officially withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty with Russia and other countries.

The Open Skies Treaty is a military transparency regime signed in 1992 by the United States and some NATO countries, along with Russia and some Eastern European countries, with 35 signatories. According to public records, the signatories can conduct unarmed aerial reconnaissance of each other’s territory to check on their implementation of various international arms control treaties.

In a statement posted on the State Department’s website this Sunday, November 22, 2020, U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Cale Brown said that on May 22, 2020, the United States exercised its right under Article 15 of the Treaty on Open Skies to provide notice of withdrawal to the depositary and all States parties to the treaty. Six months from the date of notification, the withdrawal became effective. Now that six months have passed, the United States officially withdraws from the Treaty, effective November 22, 2020. The United States is no longer a party to the Treaty on Open Skies.

The U.S. condemns Russia, a party to the agreement, for violating the agreement for years, prompting the U.S. to withdraw. Earlier this summer, the Pentagon issued a statement saying, “It has become abundantly clear that it is no longer in the best interests of the United States to remain a party to the treaty when Russia does not live up to its commitments.”

Prior to the formal withdrawal, some U.S. lawmakers also expressed skepticism about the treaty and encouraged the United States to withdraw from it. The United States relies on advanced reconnaissance satellites in space to gather intelligence, which is not covered by the treaty. Russia, on the other hand, is a beneficiary of the treaty. Because of the treaty, Russian reconnaissance planes have in the past flown over President Trump’s Bedminster Club and over the U.S. capital.

Some experts believe that U.S. withdrawal from the treaty sends a signal that Trump is preparing to withdraw from the New START treaty, the main remaining arms control treaty with Russia.

“New START limits the number of nuclear warheads that the United States and Russia can deploy to 1,550. It also limits the number of deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and heavy bombers equipped with nuclear warheads. In addition, the number of launchers that can be used to launch nuclear warheads is also limited. The treaty is set to expire in February of next year.

In June, the United States invited China to participate in arms control talks with Russia before they were held in Austria. The U.S. said all three countries needed to negotiate arms control in good faith. But the Chinese Communist Party refused to participate.

President Trump has repeatedly urged Beijing to join U.S.-Russian talks on concluding a new nuclear arms control agreement. Trump has said that it is unacceptable that the CCP is not bound by the arms control treaty signed by the United States and Russia, thus allowing it to aggressively develop and stockpile missiles.