Some view America's withdrawal from the Open Skies treaty as a calamity that makes the world more dangerous
SPY PLANES ordinarily have to sneak into a country’s air space and risk getting shot down. Under the Open Skies treaty, they can saunter in with three days’ notice—and the pilots can enjoy a cup of coffee and a hot meal on the ground. The pact was agreed on in 1992 among 34 countries, each of which may fly unarmed reconnaissance flights over any part of another. More than 1,500 flights have been conducted to date.
America has made good use of the treaty, carrying out 201 flights since 2002, the vast majority of them over Russia or its ally Belarus. But hawks in the Trump administration complain that Russia has bent the rules. In his statement announcing America’s pull-out, Mr Pompeo levelled two main charges. The first was that Russia was “unlawfully denying or restricting Open Skies observation flights whenever it desires”.
European officials, who had pleaded with the administration to remain in the treaty, are aghast. They acknowledge that Russia has not implemented the accord perfectly, but insist that the issues could have been resolved with time and effort. Earlier this year, for instance, Russia allowed flights over Kaliningrad to resume. Former American officials also push back at the view that the flights boost Russian targeting. “The information Russia gleans...
Of course, allies could ask America for satellite images. But these, unlike Open Skies photos, tend to be highly classified and, for that reason, cannot be shared as freely. General James Mattis, Mr Trump’s first defence secretary, once noted that Open Skies imagery was “a key visual aid” during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
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