Why US chose to quit Open Skies

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in May formally gave the six-month advanced notification required for America’s withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty. At the time, he said he did not believe that Russia was in compliance with the treaty, so there was no point in the US remaining bound by its terms. Since then, Russia has failed to change anything regarding its non-compliance, so this week the US kept its promise and duly left the treaty.

The Treaty on Open Skies, as it is officially known, was signed in 1992 during the early days of the new post-Cold War era.

It is basically a confidence and security-building mechanism between all the signatories. It allows unarmed aerial observation flights over the territories of those nations that are party to the agreement to improve military transparency and build trust and confidence. There are two good reasons why it was right for the US to leave the Open Skies Treaty. The first is straightforward: The US should not remain in a treaty that Russia is constantly violating.

The second reason is about ensuring taxpayers’ money is being spent wisely — especially during an economic crisis and a global pandemic. The two aircraft that the US Air Force uses for its observation missions are old and will need replacing soon. It is estimated that replacing these planes with newer ones could cost more than $200 million.

The decision to leave the treaty was not a knee-jerk reaction by the US. The Trump administration followed a very deliberate process that involved an inter-agency review for months ahead of its initial announcement back in

May. The US also gave Russia a reasonable amount of time to come back into compliance with the terms of the treaty.

It is true that many of America’s allies benefited from the intelligence gathered from the observation flights that took place under the Open Skies Treaty.

This is a legitimate concern now that the US has left the treaty. However, the US has stated that it would find other ways to share the same information with its partners, especially with the use of satellite imagery.

America’s departure from the Open Skies Treaty follows a

Trump administration trend of withdrawing from treaties that Russia is not in compliance with. Moscow was also in violation of the Intermediate Range

Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and the Trump administration was right to leave that agreement last year. After all, there is no point in being restricted by a treaty when others are not following the same rules.

Over the past several months, talks have taken place between US and Russian officials regarding a possible new nuclear weapons control agreement. While nothing has materialized from these talks, the fact they have taken place shows that the idea of arms control has not been dismissed. In the case of the Open Skies Treaty (and the INF Treaty), Russia did not abide by the rules. So one cannot blame the US for leaving these agreements. The blame lies with Russia.

Luke Coffey is director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy at the Heritage Foundation.

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