MOSCOW, 21 APR – RIA Novosti. Russia doubts that European countries will follow the US example and go out of the Treaty on open skies, said the Russian foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Lavrov said that the United States, apparently, has already taken the decision to withdraw from the Treaty on open skies.
the Treaty on open skies was signed in 1992 and became one of the measures for strengthening confidence in Europe after the cold war. It has been operating since 2002 and allows the participating countries to openly gather information about military forces and activities of each other. Parties to the Treaty are 34 States.
In early October, the Chairman of the Committee on foreign Affairs U.S. house of representatives Eliot Engel mentioned that the White house is “exploring the possibility” of withdrawal from the Treaty, and opposed this idea. Soon after, the newspaper the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources, that the President of the United States Donald trump has signed a document which allegedly sets out the intention of the us administration to withdraw from the Treaty. Thus, according to the newspaper, the decision is not final, consultations are continuing.
the Director of the Department for non-proliferation and arms control Ministry of foreign Affairs of Russia Vladimir Ermakov said earlier RIA Novosti that Moscow will be forced to retaliate if the US decides to withdraw from the Treaty, and attempts to lay the blame on Russia for breach of contract does not stand up to scrutiny. He stressed that Moscow is counting on the sanity of the overseas partners and call and keep the open skies Treaty “as one of the few remaining pillars of the security architecture in Europe”.
