US is unlikely to return to the Open Sky Treaty (Don) due to concerns that it will send an “wrong signal” Moscow. This is reported by the Edition of Defense News with reference to the diplomatic note that has fallen at his disposal.
The US State Department document informs American partners that in Washington “frankly concerned that consent to re-accession to the contract, which Russia continues to violate, will send an incorrect signal of Russia and will undermine our position on a wider range of arms control issues.” At the same time, Washington does not exclude that under certain conditions it may return to the contract or include some of its provisions into future agreements.
Earlier it was reported that in the US spiked aircraft used to observe Russia within the Don. The US Air Force Representative explained that there are no more need for two OC-135B aircraft, so they will be sent to the landfill in Arizona in the near future, where they are allowed on spare parts and scrap metal.
An open access agreement concluded in 1992. The agreement allows participating countries to carry out intelligence flights over each other’s territory to follow military activities and compliance with existing arms control treaties. The United States came out of the Treaty at the end of November 2020, and on January 15, 2021, the domestic procedures for exit from the Treaty on the open sky began Russia.