IMAGE: Reuters / US Air Force / Senior Airman Ian Dudley
RT reports (source):
Moscow thinks Washington is on the brink of pulling out from a crucial arms-control treaty it once helped develop. Reports about the move have circulated for weeks, with top US lawmakers warning of its dire ramifications.
The decision to depart from the Treaty on Open Skies “has already been taken in Washington,” Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the media, citing experts “watching how the situation is developing.”
“We believe that these assessments have a significant element of truth,” the chief diplomat offered.
We draw nearly the same conclusions based on our contacts with the Americans and with NATO members, as well as other parties to the Open Skies Treaty.
Lavrov himself said Moscow will look at what “this decision will mean exactly” before rolling out its own response. However, it is unlikely that European allies will follow Washington’s suit as “they do understand that the treaty has an added value as an instrument [to secure] trust, predictability, and transparency,” the minister suggested.
The unambiguous remarks come on the heels of media reports that the US is ready to quit the treaty, the foundations of which were championed by Presidents Dwight Eisenhower at the height of the Cold War and later by George HW Bush. The US rationale reportedly ranges from the costs of refurbishing the old-fashioned OC-135B reconnaissance aircraft to well-worn claims that Russia is infringing on the pact.
Lawmakers were split over the looming withdrawal. Senate hawks Ted Cruz, Richard Burr, and Tom Cotton fanned habitual fears that the treaty gives leverage to “Russian espionage,” while moderates argued the US has much to lose, calling the plans “short-sighted, but also unconscionable.”
Russia has long maintained that a US pullout from Open Skies would deliver a heavy blow to European security, with high-ranking diplomats calling it a road to nowhere. As Russia’s deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko put it in 2019, Washington envisions its allies across Europe as “vassals,” imposing sanctions against them and exiting treaties that are of critical importance to the Europeans.
The Open Skies Treaty, in force since 2002, is the latest arms control agreement to be targeted by the Trump administration. Last year, it unilaterally withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia, paving way for an “unrestrained arms race,” as President Vladimir Putin has said.
The U.S. misunderstood the Open Skies treaty back in 2002. We liked the part about the U.S. flying over Soviet… er, Russian territory to look around. But we were shocked to find out that the same treaty allowed Soviet… er, Russian aircraft to fly over U.S. and NATO/EU vassal territory to look around. WTF? Why would we ever agree to that if there wasn’t a clear advantage to the U.S. (or at least some money-making opportunity for us)?
Arms control treaty means anyone the U.S. doesn’t like has to disarm, and we get to verify that or else we sanction them. Why does everyone break these important agreements with the U.S. by not obeying us? Why does anyone want to verify U.S. compliance? It’s almost like other countries don’t trust us!
I hope you will recover from the 2002 shock
Russia more than recovered dimwit,they developed all kinds of supersonic/hypersonic and other world leading defense infastructures,second to none=george bush epic loser And the oil advantage has vanished all of the sudden,good for the peoples,bad for the loser bush/cheney/cruze and them other stupid ungodly nazis pretending to be gods!
Russia recovered from what? ww2, ww1?
From Yeltsin too,which “US lawmakers” ,for their part,haven’t recovered.
Russia will sell Siberia to China soon.
Yeah sure thing mate,sure thing. And the US will sell its shale oil infrastructure down its own toilet.
I hope so. We should move on another sources of energy than gas and oil.
Countries tend to use satelites to look around now. but yeah, only a fool would trust the USA in any agreement ask gaddaffi
North Korea doesn’t.
Gaddaffi? Hell, just ask any US citizen. We had this old agreement with our government called the U.S. Constitution. Our elected government officials will use it for toilet paper right in front of us, then laugh hysterically and snarl, “What the f’ck are you going to do about THAT, you little tax bitch? Now get back to your God damn rented cage until it’s time to vote… or we’ll put you in one of OURS. THAT’S the only valid agreement we have with you f’king little people.” Their eyes usually bug way out of their head when they’re screaming that, so I think they’re pretty damn serious.
You can try the NZ Bill of Rights if you like – freedom of movement, freedom of association, yada yada. Basic rights that are now illegally denied.
The name is deceptive. Bills of Rights are commonly misunderstood by the little people as declaration of inalienable citizen rights that exist independent and untouchable by the government. It turns out that they’re more like an official wish-list from the unwashed masses to the ruling elite. Kind of like the average peon’s suggestion box of their imagined rights for the government to consider – allowing when it finds them convenient, or discarding when it finds them bothersome.
Bill of Rights are still useful to the government. They can be doled out like dog treats to reward obedience to the state, or denied to citizens as punishment for disobedience. Bills of Rights are a relic of the past. If the government could do it all over again, they would just fit all citizens with electric shock collars and GPS trackers from day one.
Touche!
its funny how history repeats itself, i bet in the future america presidents will come to their senses and realize this was insane and they need some new treaties exactly like these which US withdrew from, and then maybe even after that another president will decide to withdraw from those new treaties, creating this constant cycle of withdrawing and making new treaties its truly insane
We use the creation/breaking of treaties as a kind of jobs program for our US ‘diplomats’ – they’re quite worthless otherwise and they would just be bothering host countries by begging for spare change outside our embassies (between their crystal meth binges) to bribe foreign officials. If we keep them focused on making/breaking treaties, they feel important and will maintain their personal hygiene and wear clean clothes. They are promptly disposed of in unmarked landfills when they return to the U.S., so we’re never sure what treaties they’ve made or broken. Not that it matters – we simply ignore all of them.
hahahaha too funny
Bush,cheney,cruze texan oil crushed by russian power,too bad for these nazi wankers,this will only mean good news for peoples,the harder working peoples aspirations to lead a life debt free,oh well!