According to a Russian satellite news agency on January 15, Lieutenant General Yevgeny Buzhinsky, the former director of the International Treaty Administration of the Russian Ministry of Defense, believes that Russia’s participation in the Open Sky Treaty is no longer meaningful because the United States has withdrawn from the Treaty, so it will officially announce its withdrawal in the near future.
Previously, the media had reported that Moscow was ready to withdraw after European countries rejected Russia’s proposal to amend the Open Sky Treaty.
Moscow hopes that European countries will ensure that the information obtained during flights over Russian territory will not inform the United States.
“I think it will be officially announced in the near future,” Bruzy ?? ski told the Satellite News Agency.
Bruzy ?? ski revealed that Russia will not be the first to abrogate the treaty, but simply cannot accept staying in the treaty under unequal conditions.
The Open Skies Treaty was signed in 1992 and entered into force since 2002. States parties can publicly collect information about each other’s armed forces and related activities.
The treaty is an important confidence-building measure after the end of the cold war.
The United States officially withdrew from the treaty on November 22, 2020.
