UNITED NATIONS, November 23. /TASS/. The United States’ withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies is regrettable as it weakens the international architecture of security, United Nations Secretary General Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.
"The decision taken by the United States to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty was regrettable. We do note that other parties to the treaty continue to show commitment to it," he said.
"I think what we're seeing is a deteriorating international security environment, which is worrying," he noted. "And these types of agreements, confidence·building measures, arms control, are really more important now than ever."
US President Donald Trump declared on May 21 Washington was going to withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies, which provides for inspection flights over member countries’ territories to monitor military activities. He motivated this step by Russia’s alleged violation of the treaty. US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said in a written statement that the decision to withdraw from the treaty will come into effect in six months after May 22, i.e. on November 22. Moscow denies these accusations saying it is committed to the treaty and puts forward counterclaims.
On Sunday, Washington officially confirmed it was no longer party to the treaty. A statement to this effect was released by the US Department of State.
The Treaty on Open Skies was signed in March 1992 in Helsinki by 27 member nations of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), known as Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) before 1995. The main purposes of the open skies regime are to develop transparency, render assistance in monitoring compliance with the existing or future arms control agreements, broaden possibilities for preventing crises and managing crisis situations. The treaty establishes a program of unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of its participants. The treaty came into effect from January 1, 2002 after being ratified by 20 countries. Russia ratified the Treaty on Open Skies on May 26, 2001.