US plans to quit ‘Open Skies’ treaty
President Donald Trump announced Thursday he plans to withdraw the United States from the Open Skies Treaty with Russia, the third arms control pact Trump has abrogated since coming to office.
The US leader said Moscow had not stuck to its commitments under the 18-year-old pact, which was designed to improve military transparency and confidence between the superpowers.
Yesterday, Russia said it will continue to observe the treaty that allows spy planes access to other countries' air space even if the US pulls out.
The Open Skies treaty allows its 34 full members to carry out unarmed surveillance flights over other member countries at short notice.
Aircrafts can survey the territory below, collecting information and pictures of military installations and activities. The idea is that the more rival militaries know about each other, the less the chance of conflict between them.
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