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Blog / 28 May 2020

(Daily News Scan - DNS English) Why did USA Abandon Open Skies Treaty?

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(Daily News Scan - DNS English) Why did USA Abandon Open Skies Treaty?


In one of the latest developments, recently the US has announced its withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty. It is a setback to the to the world’s arms control framework. This treaty allows participants to fly unarmed reconnaissance flights over any part of their fellow member states. During the TRUMP Presidency the US has stepped back from some other important pacts as well like, the PARIS AGREEMENT and the Iran Nuclear Deal.

In this DNS we will know about the open skies treaty.

The US gave a notice regarding its exit from the Open skies treaty. This step was taken due to continuous violations of the treaty by Russia. Until Russia adheres to the treaty the US will pull out from the treaty.

Let us first know about the OPEN SKIES TREATY –

This was first proposed in 1955 by former US President Dwight Eisenhower as a means to deescalate tensions during the Cold War. It was eventually signed in 1992 between NATO members and former Warsaw Pact countries following the demise of the Soviet Union. It went into effect in 2002 and currently has 35 signatories along with one non-ratifying member (Kyrgyzstan).

The Treaty aims at building confidence among member countries through mutual openness, thus reducing the chances of accidental war. Under the treaty, a member state can “spy” on any part of the host nation, with the latter’s consent. A country can undertake aerial imaging over the host state after giving notice 72 hours before, and sharing its exact flight path 24 hours before. All the activities like such as on troop movements, military exercises and missile deployments, information has to be shared with all member states. Only the approved imaging equipment is permitted on the surveillance flights, and officials from the host state can also stay on board throughout the planned journey.

The Open Skies Treaty was envisaged as a key arms control agreement. For over a decade Russia was accused of non-compliance with OST protocols, blaming Moscow of obstructing surveillance flights on its territory, while misusing its own missions for gathering key tactical data.

Russia is denying the allegations and has called Washington’s exit as “very regrettable”. RUSSIA said it would continue to honour its commitment under the treaty.

The US has used the treaty more intensively than Russia. Between 2002 and 2016, the U.S. flew 196 flights over Russia (in addition to having imagery from other countries) compared to the 71 flights flown by Russia, as per a BBC report. The OST was signed much before the advent of advanced satellite imaging technology which is currently the preferred mode for intelligence gathering. Surveillance aircraft provide key information that still cannot be gathered by satellite sensors, such as thermal imaging data. Also, since only the US has an extensive military satellite infrastructure, other NATO members would have to rely on Washington to obtain classified satellite data, which would be more difficult to obtain compared to OST surveillance records that have to be shared with all members as a treaty obligation. The Economist report also mentions the OST’s utility for Washington, which since 2002 has flown 201 surveillance missions over Russia. A former Trump official had also hailed OST data gathered during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Last year Trump had suspended US participation in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which is another security agreement that had been credited with curtailing the arms race in Europe towards the end of the Cold War. Then too, the US had said that it would re-engage with Russia if it sought a new treaty– a possibility that never materialised. As per the experts the same could happen with the OST, with Russia using Washington’s exit as a pretext for leaving the treaty itself.

Russia’s departure could adversely impact Washington’s European allies, which rely on OST data to track Russian troop movements in the Baltic region, as per an NYT report. “Pulling out of the Open Skies Treaty, an important multilateral arms control agreement would be yet another gift from the Trump Administration to Putin,” top Democrat leaders said.

Experts are now contemplating the fate of the much larger US-Russia ‘New START’ nuclear arms control agreement, which is slated to expire in February 2021. Trump has already said that his administration would not renew the treaty unless China joins. Many see this as improbable, given the already heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing over the coronavirus pandemic.