Former American diplomat Howard Stoffer criticized the US withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty (DON). His words are reported by RIA Novosti.
According to Stoffer, the announcement of withdrawal from the contract was a violation of American law. He recalled that the administration was supposed to inform lawmakers about its intention to withdraw from the treaty in 120 days, but did not do it.
“If I were to make recommendations to President [Joe] Biden, I would say, why don’t we view withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty as invalid, illegal, inappropriate? Why don’t we think that the Open Skies Treaty is still valid for US observations? ” he asked. According to the former diplomat, in this case, one can hope that Russia and other parties will accept the fact that the United States has returned to the treaty.
Earlier, the head of the press service of the State Department Ned Price said that the new US administration is exploring the possibility of returning to the Open Skies Treaty, from which the country withdrew on November 22, 2020.
The Open Skies Treaty was signed in 1992. The agreement allows member states to conduct reconnaissance flights over each other’s territory to monitor military activities and compliance with existing arms control treaties.