Biden Admiinstration Confirms It Will Not Rejoin The 'Open Skies Treaty' With Russia

US OC-135B Open Skies surveillance plane, pictured at RAF Mildenhall in February 2010 © Flickr/Airwolfhound  

NBC: U.S. tells Russia it won't rejoin arms control pact that was 'undermined by Russian violations' 

WASHINGTON — The United States has told Russia it will not rejoin an arms control agreement that allows member countries to conduct surveillance flights over each others' territory, accusing Moscow of violating the accord. 

The decision not to re-enter the Open Skies Treaty came only weeks before a planned summit between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva. 

The U.S. move leaves only one major arms control agreement in place between the two nuclear-armed powers, the New START treaty. Biden has agreed to extend that accord another five years.  

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Update #1: US tells Russia it won’t rejoin Open Skies arms control pact (Military Times/AP)  

Update #2: Biden administration won't seek to rejoin Open Skies Treaty after 2020 exit (CNN)  

WNU Editor: The Kremlin has responded .... Russian foreign ministry puts responsibility for collapse of Open Skies Treaty on US (TASS).  

Update #3: Yup. This treaty is not going to be brought up .... Putin, Biden unlikely to discuss Treaty on Open Skies, says senior Russian diplomat (TASS).

U.S. Has Formally Withdrawn From The 35-Nation Open Skies Treaty

A Russian Antonov airplane on the tarmac at a Brussels military airport, pictured in 2002. The Antonov was about to fly over NATO territory as part of the Open Skies Treaty. 

The Hill: Trump administration pulls out of Open Skies Treaty with Russia 

The Trump administration has withdrawn from the Open Skies Treaty with Russia, officials said early Sunday. 

"On May 22, 2020, the United States exercised its right pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article XV of the Treaty on Open Skies by providing notice to the Treaty Depositaries and to all States Parties of its decision to withdraw from the Treaty, effective six months from the notification date," State Department deputy spokesperson Cale Brown said in a statement. 

"Six months having elapsed, the U.S. withdrawal took effect on November 22, 2020, and the United States is no longer a State Party to the Treaty on Open Skies," Brown added. 

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WNU Editor: The Kremlin is hoping that the incoming Biden administration will reverse this decision. I am not sure if that is going to happen.

  More News On The U.S. Formally Withdrawing From The 35-Nation Open Skies Treaty 

US formally withdraws from Open Skies Treaty that bolstered European security -- CNN 

US to withdraw from Open Skies Treaty with Russia: officials -- FOX News 

U.S. To Withdraw From Open Skies Treaty; Moscow Says 'All Options Are Open To Us' -- RFE 

WH Says Open Skies Treaty Outdated, Was Violated by Russia as Washington Officially Withdraws -- Sputnik 

Russia to seek firm guarantees that parties to Open Skies Treaty meet their commitments -- TASS 

Russia Seeks to Preserve Open Skies Treaty Following 'Hypocritical' US Withdrawal -- Sputnik

President Trump Says U.S. Will Withdraw From Open Skies Treaty - Report

Daily Mail: Donald Trump pulls out of 'open skies' treaty which lets Russia fly over U.S. military sites, claiming Kremlin repeatedly flouted deal

* Donald Trump's administration is giving six months notice that it will leave the Open Skies treaty which entered forced in 2002
* It allows Russia and the U.S. to overfly each other's military installations in agreed surveillance flights
* But the U.S. claims Russia has breached the treaty by not allowing flights over its installations including those beside Poland
* In 2017 a Russian Tu-135 military jet flew low over the Capitol and Trump's Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, where he was vacationing
* There are a total of 35 countries which have signed the treaty which was pushed by President George H.W. Bush in the aftermath of the Cold War

The United States announced its intention to withdraw from the 35-nation Open Skies treaty that permits unarmed aerial surveillance flights over participating countries, saying Russia has repeatedly violated the pact's terms.

Senior administration officials said the pullout will formally take place in six months, based on the treaty's withdrawal terms.

It was the latest move by President Donald Trump's administration to remove the United States from a major global treaty, following withdrawal from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia last year.

The Trump administration notified international partners on Thursday that it is pulling out of a treaty.

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More News On President Trump Saying The U.S. Will Withdraw From The Open Skies Treaty - Report

Trump administration to withdraw from Open Skies Treaty -- Defense News
US says it's pulling out of Open Skies surveillance treaty -- AP
Open Skies Treaty: US to withdraw from arms control deal -- BBC
U.S. pulls out of Open Skies treaty, Trump's latest treaty withdrawal -- Reuters
Trump to withdraw US from Open Skies Treaty, will inform Russia on Friday -- RT
Trump Says US Will Withdraw From Open Skies Treaty - Report -- Sputnik

Europe Must Prepare For A US Exit From The Open Skies Treaty

The group of retired Nato generals said the strategic benefits of stability in the Atlantic were ‘very real’ for the US. Photograph: Vladimir Smirnov/Tass

The Guardian: Europe must prepare for US exit from vital Russia treaty, former Nato generals warn

Joint statement urges US to remain in Open Skies Treaty, designed to reduce risk of war breaking out through miscalculation.

A group of retired Nato generals and defence officials have urged the US to stay in a 1992 treaty with Russia on mutual reconnaissance flights, but also warned European capitals to prepare for a US exit.

The US defence secretary, Mark Esper, and the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, are said by US sources to be determined to leave the Open Skies Treaty (OST), which European leaders and arms control advocates believe reduces the risk of a war breaking out through miscalculation by adding to mutual transparency.

A joint statement by a group of 16 retired military commanders and defence ministers, coordinated by the European Leadership Network (ELN) released on Tuesday, said the OST was a vital pillar of stability between nuclear powers.

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WNU Editor: These retired NATO generals are correct that Europe must prepare for the termination of the Open Skies Treaty. But right now the entire focus in Europe is on the pandemic, and how to open up the continent.Treaties like Open Skies is on the bottom of everyone's priority list.

U.S. Tells NATO To Make The Case On Why Should They Still Be A Part Of The Open Skies Treaty

An OC-135 aircraft used as part of the Open Skies Treaty takes off Sept. 14, 2018, from Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. (Charles J. Haymond/U.S. Air Force)

Defense News: US to Europe: Fix Open Skies Treaty or we quit

WASHINGTON — NATO allies worried U.S. President Donald Trump will abandon the Open Skies Treaty have been told the administration views the arms control agreement as a danger to U.S. national security, and that unless those nations can assuage such concerns, the U.S. will likely pull out, Defense News has learned.

At a meeting in Brussels last week, Trump administration officials laid out for the first time a full suite of concerns with the treaty and made clear they were seriously considering an exit. The agreement, ratified in 2002, allows mutual reconnaissance flights over its 34 members, including the U.S. and Russia.

According to one senior administration official, the U.S. delegation presented classified intelligence to the foreign officials to explain its concerns, chiefly that Russian forces are “misusing the treaty in their targeting of critical U.S. infrastructure,” and to request help from allies to address those concerns if the treaty is to be saved.

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WNU Editor: I always viewed the 'Open Skies Treaty' as a confidence boosting measure between NATO and Russia. Beyond that I do not see the practicality of it.

Reports: U.S. Will Soon Exit The 'Open Skies' Treaty

CC BY-SA 3.0 / Dmitry Zherdin / Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-214ON which will be operated under the Open Skies treaty

CNN: Trump administration expected to announce exit from 'Open Skies' treaty

Washington (CNN)The Trump administration is expected to soon announce that it plans to exit the "Open Skies" treaty, a US official tells CNN, a move that has already drawn condemnation from Democrats in Congress.

The decision to leave the treaty -- which was signed in 1992 and went into effect in 2002 and allows 34 member states to conduct unarmed surveillance flights over one another's territories -- could affect the American military's ability to conduct aerial surveillance of Russia and other member countries. The treaty is used to help verify arms control agreements, according to the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency, part of the Defense Department.

According to the State Department, the treaty "is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants, regardless of size, a direct role in gathering information through aerial imaging on military forces and activities of concern to them."

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WNU Editor: I openly supported the "Open Skies" treaty when it was signed in 1992. It was a confidence-building measure that was passed with Russia after the Soviet Union split apart. But it is now definitely out-of-date, with limited benefits. So will the White House terminate the treaty? We shall soon see.

More News On Reports That The U.S. Will Soon Exit The 'Open Skies' Treaty

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Raises Alarm That Trump May Axe The Open Skies Treaty -- Warzone/The Drive
Trump To Exit 'Open Skies' Treaty, Banning Russian Recon Flights Over US -- Zero Hedge
What is the Open Skies treaty? -- CNN
Senator Engel Concerned Over Reports of White House Plans to Abandon Open Skies Treaty - Letter -- Sputnik

Russian 'Spy' Plane Spotted Over The U.S. Midwest

The plane, under the Treaty on Open Skies, is permitted to fly inside the airspace of parties, such as the United States, that are member to the treaty

Daily Mail: Russian 'spy' plane is spotted over the Midwest on a surveillance mission of strategic defense assets in Hawaii

 * On August 14 it landed in Hawaii ahead of a flyover of US defense assets
 * The Russian Tupolev Tu-154M had departed Moscow, for the United States, via Iceland on August 11
 * Its flight over Chicago this week caused a bit of a stir among locals unaware it was on an official mission permitted under the Treaty on Open Skies

A Russian Air Force jet has been spotted flying in the skies above the US Midwest on what appears to be a surveillance mission of key strategic defense assets in the nation.

The Tupolev Tu-154M was captured on flight radar flying across parts of the country including Chicago - the home of the US navy's largest training sites and Hawaii - home of the Hickam Air Force Base and the local Marine Corps.

FlightRadar24 data shows the air force jet left the Russian Federation on August 11, before a stopover in Reykjavik, Iceland, that same day before passing through Vacaville, Northern California before it is believed to have then undertaken its surveillance missions over Hawaii on Wednesday.

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Update: Russian Surveillance Plane Is Flying Missions Over U.S. Military Bases In Hawaii (Warzone/The Drive)

WNU Editor:I am surprised that this treaty is still being respected.

Russia's New Surveillance Plane Is Flying Over The U.S.

Tu-214ON aircraft

Warzone/The Drive: Russia's New Surveillance Plane Just Flew Over Two Of America's Top Nuclear Labs

The route also covered a number of Army and Air Force bases, a major proving ground, and one of America's last chemical weapon storage sites.

One Russia's two Tu-214ON aircraft has conducted what appears to be its first-ever flight over the United States under the Open Skies Treaty. This agreement allows member states to conduct aerial surveillance missions, with certain limitations in hardware and in the presence of monitors from the surveilled country, over each other's territory. Today's sortie took the Russian plane over parts of West Texas, through New Mexico, and into Colorado, including overflights of Fort Bliss, White Sands Missile Range, Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories, and finally hitting up the Pueblo Chemical Depot.

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WNU Editor: This flight covers a lot of territory.

A Russian Spy Plane Did A Fly-By Of Area 51

Russia Tu-154M configured and certified for Open Skies flights. Papas Dos/wikicommons

Warzone/The Drive: The Russians Just Did A Fly-By Of Area 51

Russia's specially equipped Tu-154M Open Skies aircraft is doing a grand tour of America's most sensitive military installations out west.

The Russians are operating their Tu-154M aircraft configured for surveillance flights sanctioned under the Open Skies Treaty that allows member countries to conduct surveillance flights over each other's territory relatively unimpeded. The aircraft are equipped with imaging equipment with specific limitations and monitors from the country being surveilled are onboard the flights to make certain the party complies with the parameters of the treaty. This latest series of Russian Open Skies flights are being conducted out of Great Falls, Montana and are covering a slew of strategic points in the western part of the United States, including the highly secure Nellis Test and Training Range (NTTR) in southern Nevada, home of Area 51.

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WNU Editor: I am willing to bet that when this fly-by occurred anything and everything that is top secret was put away and hidden.

U.S. Military Plane Flies Over Ukraine In A Warning To Russia

A U.S. Air Force OC-135 observation plane, which was specifically designed for so-called Open Skies missions like the one carried out over Ukraine on Thursday. Photo: Charles J. Haymond/U.S. Air Force

WSJ: U.S. Military Plane Flies Over Ukraine in Warning to Russia

Pentagon says flight reaffirms its commitment to Ukraine amid tensions with Russia

WASHINGTON—The Pentagon said Thursday that it carried out a rare flight over Ukraine under the international Open Skies Treaty to “reaffirm U.S. commitment to Ukraine" amid heightened Russia-Ukraine tensions.

It was the second such U.S. military gesture in two days after Russia last month shot at and seized three Ukrainian naval vessels and their crew members off Crimea. The U.S. Navy on Wednesday sent a warship through the Sea of Japan in a rare challenge to Russia’s maritime claims in international waters.

“Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea near the Kerch Strait is a dangerous escalation in a pattern of increasingly provocative and threatening activity,” the Pentagon said in a statement. “The United States seeks a better relationship with Russia, but this cannot happen while its unlawful and destabilizing actions continue in Ukraine and elsewhere.”

Russia has claimed the ships trespassed into Russian territorial waters.

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WNU Editor: It is going to take more than flying one military aircraft over Ukraine to get Russia's attention.

U.S. Suspends Funding For The Open Skies Treaty

A Tu-214 ON (Open Skies) reconnaissance aircraft © Maxim Blinov / Sputnik

Moscow Times: Trump Signs Defense Bill Suspending Funding for Open Skies Treaty

The United States has suspended funding for the Open Skies Treaty following the signing of a $717-billion national defense policy act into law by U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday.

The measure could have implications for Russia’s ability to conduct observation flights over the United States.

Under the 34-member treaty that entered into force in 2002, countries are allowed to conduct unarmed observation flights to promote openness and transparency of military forces and activities. Russian aircraft had reportedly last conducted reconnaissance flights over the U.S. in August 2017 — over the Capitol, the Pentagon, the White House and Bedminster, New Jersey, where Trump was taking a working vacation.

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WNU Editor: This is a big story that is being covered extensively in Russia. But in the West .... with the exception of Reuters .... little if any coverage.

More News On The U.S. Suspending Funding For The Open Skies Treaty

Washington Freezes Open Sky Treaty With Moscow in New Defense Bill -- Sputnik
Moscow Regrets US Suspension of Cooperation Within Open Skies Treaty -- Sputnik
US ‘shoots itself in the foot’ suspending Open Skies Treaty with Russia – retired general -- RT
Moscow regrets that U.S. is suspending Open Skies treaty: RIA -- Reuters

Kremlin To Restrict U.S. Base Usage Under Open Skies Treaty

A USAF Boeing OC-135B Open Skies. / Wikipedia

Bloomberg: Russia to Limit U.S. Military Flyovers in Tit-for-Tat Response

* Kremlin to restrict base usage under Open Skies Treaty
* Moscow-Washington relations are the most strained in decades

Russia plans to limit the number of airbases the U.S. can use to launch reconnaissance flights under the Open Skies Treaty, in a fresh sign of its deteriorating relationship with Washington.

The restrictions will be introduced Jan. 1 in response to U.S. measures to limit Russian military flights in its airspace, said Georgiy Borisenko, head of the Foreign Ministry’s North American department, according to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

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Update#1: Report: Russia to limit US military observation flights (The Hill)
Update #2: Russia to 'limit' access to airfields for US observation planes after Alaska & Hawaii restrictions (RT)

WNU Editor: Russia has been threatening to do this for a while .... Russia to respond to US restrictions on observation flights (RT). My guess is that since there has no shift on U.S. policy when it comes to "Open Skies", the decision was made that by today the Kremlin would impose its own retaliatory measures. This is unfortunate .... even though much of today's intelligence gathering is done by satellites, the Open Skies Treaty was implemented to foster trust and openness between Russia and the U.S.. It looks like that trust does not exist anymore.

More Signs That Arms-Control Agreements Are Unraveling

Wall Street Journal: U.S. to Curb Russian Military Flights Over American Territory

Officials set to restrict observation missions that are now allowed under Open Skies treaty.

WASHINGTON—U.S. officials are preparing to announce restrictions to Russian military flights over American territory under the Treaty on Open Skies in the latest sign of strain in U.S.-Russia relations.

The treaty, part of a suite of arms-control, transparency and confidence-building agreements that proliferated in the late stages of the Cold War, permits its 34 ratified member states to conduct observation flights over each other’s territory while capturing aerial imagery of military personnel and materiel.

Treaty-related tensions intensified over two days in August, when a Russian plane operating under Open Skies flew over U.S. cities including Washington as well as Bedminster, N.J., while President Donald Trump was staying at the Trump National Golf Club in the town.

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WNU Editor: This is part of the "trust but verify" principle that is always needed when it comes to arms control agreements (something that is sorely missing in the Iranian nuclear deal .... but I digress). These additional restrictions .... by both sides .... is undermining the entire process, and I shudder on where this may eventually lead.

Russia Wants Permission To Fly Surveillance Planes With Advanced Digital Cameras Over The U.S.

A Russian Federation Tupolev Tu-154 Open Skies Treaty reconnaissance aircraft sits on the runway at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, June 10, 2004, prior to its departure for two overflights of central Alaska. VOA

IBTimes: Russia Seeking Permission To Fly Surveillance Plane With Advanced Digital Cameras Over US

Russia will seek permission on Monday to start flying surveillance planes equipped with advanced digital cameras over the United States, the Associated Press (AP) reported. The news comes as U.S. intelligence and military officials reportedly warned that such surveillance activities might help Moscow collect intelligence about the U.S.

A senior congressional staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AP that Russia plans to formally ask permission from the Open Skies Consultative Commission, based in Vienna, to be allowed to fly an aircraft equipped with high-tech sensors and digital cameras over the U.S. The request will later be reviewed by the Obama administration.

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More News On Russia Wanting Permission To Fly Its Surveillance Planes With Advanced Digital Cameras Over The U.S.

Russia wants permission to fly surveillance planes over the U.S. -- AP
Report: Russia wants to fly advanced digital camera over US -- The Hill
Russia Reportedly Plans To Ask For Spy-Plane Flights Over U.S. -- RFE
Russia Plans To Fly High-Tech Spy Jets Over US -- SKY News
Russia Wants to Fly Over the U.S. Using Its Latest Spy Technology -- The New America

Has Turkey Broken The Open Skies Treaty?

AFP: Turkey broke aviation treaty in blocking Russian plane: Moscow

Moscow (AFP) - Russia's defence ministry on Wednesday accused Turkey of breaching the Open Skies treaty by refusing to allow a reconnaissance plane to overfly its territory near Syria, the latest salvo in an ongoing row as relations between the two countries hits a post-Cold War low.

"This creates a dangerous precedent over a lack of control of the military activity of a member state of the Open Skies treaty," the ministry said.

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WNU Editor: What is the point of having a treaty when it is not respected. The problem is that Russian - Turkish relations are now rock-bottom .... and all the rules that everyone respected in the past are now being ignored. One now has to wonder if Turkey will break the Montreux Convention.

More News On Claims That Turkey Is Breaking The 'Open Skies Treaty'

Turkey rejects Russian request for routine observation flight -- Reuters
‘Dangerous precedent’: Turkey denies Russian observation flight along Syrian border -- RT
Turkey says refused access to Russian flight near Syria -- AFP
Russia says Turkey systematically violates Open Skies Treaty -- TASS
Russia expects international reaction to Turkey’s violation of Open Skies Treaty -- TASS
Turkey says it rejected Russian observation flight request over ’route disagreement’ -- Today's Zaman