About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (June 7, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govedok0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional R fes'e r hService The Open Skies Treaty: Background and Issues Updated June 7, 2021 The United States announced its withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies on May 22, 2020; this withdrawal took effect on November 22, 2020. Russia announced its plans to withdraw, while beginning the domestic procedures for withdrawal on January 15, 2021. The Russian Duma approved the law authorizing Russia's withdrawal in May 2021, with the Federation Council following in early June. President Putin signed the law on June 7, 2021; Russia's withdrawal will be complete in early December 2021. When it withdrew from the Treaty on Open Skies, the Trump Administration cited U.S. concerns about Russian compliance. According to the U.S. State Department, Russia had restricted access for Open Skies flights over Kaliningrad, over Moscow, and along the border between Russia and the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russia reportedly also failed to provide priority flight clearance for Open Skies flights on a few occasions. Although some of these issues had been resolved during discussions in the Open Skies Consultative Commission, the Trump Administration argued that the Treaty no longer served U.S. national security interests. While President Biden had disagreed during the campaign with the prior Administration's decision to withdraw from Open Skies, his Administration informed Russia on May 27, 2021 that the United States would not rejoin the Treaty. In April, the Administration had told U.S. allies that it was concerned rejoining the Treaty could send the wrong message to Russia and undermine our position on the broader arms control agenda if Russia continued to violate Open Skies. In May, it cited concerns about Russia's failure to return to compliance as the one of its key reasons for the U.S. withdrawal. Russian officials criticized the U.S. decision, referring to it as a political mistake and a missed opportunity to bolster security in Europe. The U.S. Air Force has retired the two U.S. Open Skies aircraft. The first of the two moved from Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona in May 2021; the second moved in early June 2021. Background President Eisenhower proposed an Open Skies agreement in 1955 to reduce the risk of war. Before satellites existed, aerial overflights provided information for both intelligence and confidence-building purposes. The Soviet Union rejected the proposal because it considered overflights equal to espionage and believed the United States had more to gain than it did. President George H. W. Bush revived the proposal in May 1989. By this time, both the United States and Soviet Union collected intelligence with satellites and remote sensors. As Europe emerged from the East-West divide of the Cold War, the United States CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most