- Open Skies Treaty. The Trump government has notified its international partners that it will withdraw from a major agreement that has prevented wars.
- The agreement allows 30 nations to conduct unarmed observation flights over their respective territories, thereby promoting confidence and avoiding wars
- But the United States assures that Russia breaches it; the measure is expected to strain relations with the well-known rival
Open Skies Treaty. President Donald Trump’s government notified its international partners Thursday that it will withdraw from a treaty that allows some 30 nations to carry out observation flights without weapons over their respective territories. The intention of the treaty, signed decades ago, is to promote confidence and avoid wars.
The government said it wants to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty because Russia is violating it, and because the images taken by those flights can be obtained more quickly and at less cost from government or commercial satellites.
The move is expected to strain relations with Moscow and upset both European allies and some lawmakers.
Former President Dwight Eisenhower was the first to propose that the United States and the then Soviet Union allow aerial reconnaissance flights into their respective territories in July 1955. Moscow rejected the idea, but former President George H.W. Bush proposed it again in May 1989 and the treaty entered into force in January 2002. So far 34 nations have signed it. Kyrgyzstan has signed it, but has not yet ratified it.
Trump pulls out of deal, but tries to keep another
The Washington peace envoy to Afghanistan made his first visit to Kabul since the country’s warring leaders reached a power-sharing agreement, amid increased violence attributed mainly to an affiliate of the extremist group Islamic State that It has been the target of a growing US bombing campaign.
In a series of tweets on Thursday, Zalmay Khalilzad spoke about his meetings in Doha this week with Taliban representatives, and on Wednesday with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival Abdullah Abdullah. All the meetings aimed to resurrect a peace agreement signed in February by the United States and the Taliban.
Khalilzad returned to Washington on Wednesday night.
The envoy called for a reduction in violence on all fronts of the entrenched conflict in Afghanistan, in which the US Army has been immersed for 19 years. He also said too much time has been wasted moving on to the crucial second phase of the peace agreement, which includes talks between the Taliban and the country’s political leaders.
Abdullah will lead those efforts within the agreement signed with Ghani, which ended months of dispute over who won last September’s presidential election. He acknowledged Ghani’s victory, but within an agreement to share power.
United States President Donald Trump reiterated this week that US soldiers have been inappropriately charged with maintaining security in the country, and called on Afghanistan to take over.
The United States has some 12,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan, divided between anti-terrorist operations and NATO-led Mission Resolute Support, which has a total of 16,500 troops and instructs and assists the Afghan National Security Forces. Washington pays some $ 4 billion annually to maintain the Afghan army.
Filed Under: Treaty of Open Skies
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