President Trump has confirmed that the United States will withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty in which 35 countries have participated in since 1992. The Open Sky Treaty is an agreement that allows countries to be open and transparent for military activities. After Russia violated the agreement, President Trump decided to withdraw from the treaty.
The President believes that by withdrawing from the treaty, Russia will abide by the agreement. President Trump said that by the U.S. pulling out, “they’re going to come back and want to make a deal.”
Deputy Foreign Minister, Alexander Grushko said, “that this will come as a blow to the system of military security in Europe.” Grushko also defended Russia and went on to say that Russia did “nothing wrong.”
💬 Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko: 'The withdrawal of the #US from the #OpenSkies Treaty will come as yet another blow to the system of military #security in #Europe. It will also harm the interests of the US allies.' 🔗 https://t.co/GWvxl1FhR1 #Russia #USA pic.twitter.com/39hg0Bax5l
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) May 22, 2020
The European Union has asked the United States to reconsider pulling out of the treaty. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that the Open Skies Treaty” is a key element of our arms-control architecture.” Borrell continued that the treaty is a “security-building measure” between the countries.
Former CIA chief, Gen. Michael Hayden thinks that President Trump’s decision pulling out of the Open Sky Treaty is wrong. Gen. Hayden served under both former President George Bush and Barrack Obama from 2006 to 2009. On Twitter Gen. Hayden stated, that “this is insane” and that he had been of the “director of the CIA.”
This is insane. I was the director of CIA.
— Gen Michael Hayden (@GenMhayden) May 21, 2020
The Open Sky Treaty is a broad arms control agreement between the countries. The treaty allows countries with nuclear arsenals and military forces to collect important information from each other. The idea of the treaty first came in 1955 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower but it was not until March 24, 1992, that the agreement was signed.
The purpose of the arms control treaty is to impose international restrictions. Arms control is to monitor the development and production of weapons of mass destruction, conventional weapons, and small arms. Arms control treaties are peaceful advocates of war avoidance, but sometimes it is difficult to maintain these treaties.
The Conference on Disarmament is held in Geneva and began in 1933, a short time after Adolf Hilter took control of Germany. The purpose of the conference is to negotiate international multilateral arms control. There have been 17 times that negotiates have failed since the conferences have begun. During 2019, several countries addressed their concerns about new technology that is being developed in the construction of nuclear weapons.
![Nuclear explosion [Courtesy Needpix/CC0]](https://vozwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/atomic-bomb-2621291_1280-300x200.jpg)
This year’s, Conference on Disarmament was scheduled for April 27 to May 22 in Geneva. It has been postponed to 2021 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. There is a growing concern the pandemic will affect renewing and creating new treaties as there are growing tensions of nuclear risk.
According to the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, disarmament has four pillars. The four pillars are to save humanity, save lives, help future generations, and continue to strengthen global relations.
Based on 4 pillars, the #AgendaForDisarmament places #disarmament, #nonproliferation & #arms control at the centre of @UN work & common #security. Working together, these efforts save lives, humanity & protect future generations. See 👉https://t.co/FGXIR7j0Dz (2/2) pic.twitter.com/LcHRcC048y
— ODA (@UN_Disarmament) May 24, 2020
The 35 countries involved in the Open Sky Treaty include the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Belarus, Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands, Italy, Finland, Georgia, Romania, Iceland, Greece, Spain, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Herzegovina, Slovenia, Croatia, Greenland, Denmark, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovakia, Iceland, Russia, and the United States.
