Editorial | Dark skies as Donald Trump tears up arms pacts
- In his latest move, the US president says he will be pulling out of the Open Skies treaty that allows unarmed surveillance flights, landing another blow to disarmament efforts
Donald Trump has dealt another blow to decades of global efforts to head off arms races and advance disarmament.
This time he has taken aim at a nearly 20-year-old agreement designed to build trust and confidence between dozens of nations and give some assurance against attack. And not for the first time he blamed Russian violations for withdrawing from collective security arrangements.
Washington has announced its intention to pull out of the 35-nation Open Skies treaty allowing unarmed surveillance flights at short notice over member countries, including Europe and US allies. It said Russia had repeatedly violated the terms of the deal by restricting overflights and using its own overflights of US and European territory to identify potential strategic war targets.
Moscow has denied any failure to comply with the agreement and accused the United States of weakening European security. This follows American withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) signed in 1987 after the US and allies accused Moscow of violating it by deploying a new type of missile, which it denied, and Trump’s “unsigning” of the conventional Arms Trade Treaty.
“Until they adhere we pull out,” Trump said, holding out some hope by adding there was a “good chance we’ll make a new agreement” before formal withdrawal in six months.
