Russia drops out of major nuclear pact

Russia said on Friday that it will withdraw from an international treaty allowing surveillance flights over military facilities after the U.S. exit from the pact, compounding the challenges faced by the incoming administration of presidentelect Joe Biden.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the U.S. withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty last year “significantly upended the balance of interests of signatory states,” adding that Moscow’s proposals to keep the treaty alive after the U.S. exit have been coldshouldered by Washington’s allies.

The treaty was intended to build trust between Russia and the West by allowing the accord’s more than three dozen signatories to conduct reconnaissance flights over each other’s territories to collect information about military forces and activities. More than 1,500 flights have been conducted under the treaty, aimed at fostering transparency about military activity and helping monitor arms control and other agreements.

President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Open Skies Treaty, arguing Russian violations made it untenable for the United States to remain a party. The U.S. completed its withdrawal from the pact in November.

The only U.S.Russian arms control pact still standing is the New START treaty that expires in three weeks. Moscow and Washington have discussed an extension, but have so far have failed to overcome their differences.