WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd May, 2020) The Trump administration is facing mounting criticism over the decision to leave the Open Skies Treaty from US lawmakers who believe the potentially illegal move will weaken national security and "blind" America due to lack of intelligence.
On Friday, the US government officially notified Russia of its withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said, adding that Moscow will remain committed to the accord.
The multilateral international treaty, developed with the active participation of Russia, is an arms control pact that allows for unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the territories of the 34 party states aimed at building confidence and ensuring security.
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi set the tone of the opposition, which mostly came from Democrats, by accusing President Donald Trump of putting the country's security at risk.
"Withdrawing from the Open Skies Treaty without a replacement further undermines America's credibility in the global community and makes Americans less safe," Pelosi said in a statement on Friday. "The President's withdrawal will senselessly blind America and our allies while emboldening our enemies."
Meanwhile, more than 30 members of Congress actually focused their cross-hairs on the Pentagon and State Department for answers.
"Until the Department of Defense and Department of State give a compelling reason for why remaining in the Open Skies Treaty is no longer in the national security interest of the United States, we strongly oppose of the path you are on," Congressman Bill Foster and 36 other colleagues said in a letter addressed to Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
In the first 15 years since the treaty entered into force in 2002, the United States made 196 observation flights over Russia while Russia made 71 flights over US territory, the letter noted. In addition, US allies conducted 500 flights over Russia during the same period. The lawmakers said it is important to remain in the treaty in order to preserve relations with Russia and to reduce military risks.
Other lawmakers questioned the legality of Trump's move and also targeted their focus on Pompeo and Esper. US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel and Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith said they are deeply troubled that the Trump administration failed to consult or notify Congress about the decision in direct violation of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.
"We are writing to demand an explanation for this intended illegal action and... continue to strongly oppose any withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty," the congressmen said in a letter to Pompeo and Esper.
A former diplomat who served as charge d'affaires at the Canadian embassy in Moscow, Patrick Armstrong, told Sputnik the move by Trump was simply to satiate near-term political needs despite putting the world in greater danger in the long run.
"More of Washington's short-term gain for long-term pain," Armstrong said. "The ABM [Anti Ballistic Missile] Treaty and the CFE [Conventional Forces in Europe] Treaty were already dead and the Trump Administration seems to be determined to kill off every remaining Cold War arms control treaty."
US lawmakers were not the only ones concerned. The President of the UN General Assembly, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, hopes the United States and Russia will be able to overcome differences through dialogue regarding the Open Skies Treaty, spokeswoman Reem Abaza told Sputnik on Friday.
Russian lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev has warned that the US plan to quit the treaty will shift the balance of surveillance capabilities toward NATO while EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged the United States to reconsider its decision to withdraw from one of the key arms control agreements.
Pompeo announced Thursday that Washington would pull out in six months unless Russia started adhering to the pact. Russia has denied any violations of the treaty and said a US withdrawal would undermine the global security system. Russia's Foreign Ministry on Friday said that it rejects any "ultimatums" over the matter.
