WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st May, 2020) President Donald Trump's "stupid" decision to pull the United States out of the Open Skies Treaty will be of no benefit whatsoever to US national security, former CIA official Phil Giraldi told Sputnik on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, the US announced it was exiting the Open Skies Treaty, a pact that went into force in 2002 that allows 34 member states to conduct mutual unarmed aerial surveillance. The Trump administration claimed it exited the deal over alleged Russian violations.
"It is possibly the most stupid thing yet to come out of a White House where being stupid is regarded as a virtue," Giraldi, Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest , said. "It is a confidence building measure that was/is good for all parties involved and there is absolutely no benefit to the United States in pulling out of it."
Giraldi added that the decision to withdraw from the treaty was a strong indicator that the Trump administration would not make any serious effort to save the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which comes up for renewal next year.
The fundamental reason for the rapidly deteriorating prospects for saving arms control lay in Trump's determination to assert US sovereignty on all issues regardless of the complexities and responsibilities involved, Giraldi said.
"We have a president who does not believe that foreign nations have any sovereignty beyond what we allow them," he said.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Sputnik on Thursday that US withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty will mean undermining a fundamental agreement that seriously strengthened confidence and security in Europe.
