Putin confirms Russian exit from overflight treaty
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill to withdraw from an international treaty allowing surveillance flights over military facilities, following the U.S. exit from the pact
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a bill to withdraw from an international treaty allowing surveillance flights over military facilities, following the US's withdrawal from the treaty.
US officials told Moscow last month that President Joe Biden's administration had decided not to renegotiate the Open Skies treaty, which the U.S. Under President Donald Trump, the bill was supported by Russian lawmakers.
As a presidential candidate, Biden had criticized Trump's return as "short-sighted". Moscow has signaled its readiness to reverse the withdrawal process and remain in the 1992 treaty if the United States returns to the agreement, but now Putin's signing seals the Russian withdrawal which will take effect in six months.
Putin and Biden are to have a summit in Geneva on June 16, a meeting that comes amid escalating Russia-US tensions. Post-Cold War ties have declined following Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, allegations of Moscow interference in US elections, hacking attacks and other issues.
The Open Skies Treaty was intended to build trust between Russia and the West, allowing the more than three dozen signatories to the agreement to conduct surveillance flights over each other's territories to monitor troop deployments and other military activities. More than 1,500 flights have been operated under the treaty since it took effect in 2002, helping to promote transparency and oversee arms control agreements.
Trump pulled out of the deal last year, arguing that Russian violations made it impossible for Washington to remain a party, and the United States completed its withdrawal in November.
Russia has denied any violations, arguing that some restrictions on observation flights imposed in the past were permissible under the treaty, and noted that the U.S. imposed more extensive restrictions on observation flights over Alaska.
Moscow has unsuccessfully pushed for guarantees from NATO allies that it will transfer data collected during its observation flights over Russia to the U.S.