The United States announced that it will withdraw from the open skies agreement, which includes 35 countries, and allows air reconnaissance operations with unarmed aircraft in the airspace of the participating countries, in the latest move by President Donald Trump's administration to remove his country from a major international agreement.

The Trump administration has said that Russia has repeatedly violated the terms of the agreement. Senior officials have indicated that the withdrawal will be official within six months, but Trump has kept the possibility that Russia will comply with the agreement.

"I think our relations are very good with Russia, and we have worked together to solve the oil problem, but Russia has not complied with the agreement, and until it complies, we will withdraw," Trump told reporters on Thursday. The US President spoke of an opportunity to conclude a new agreement that would also include China.

He declared, "There is a good opportunity to conclude a new agreement or do something to reform that treaty (...) We may reach a deal with Russia, and China may be a party to it."

American media said that the Trump administration took this step to avoid a mistake in the war with Russia, by allowing reconnaissance planes to fly in the airspace of the two countries.

On the other hand, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Groshko said that the withdrawal of the United States from the open skies agreement will affect the interests of all its participants who are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as well.

Grosko said that Russia did not violate the agreement, and that nothing prevents the continuation of discussions on technical issues that the United States considers a breach on the Russian side, and stressed that the American move is a blow to European security.

NATO and other countries such as Ukraine have pressed Washington to discourage them from withdrawing from the Open Skies Agreement, whose unarmed flights aim to boost confidence, and give member states advance warning of any sudden military attacks.

On the other hand, a spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General, Stephen Dujarric, said he was concerned about what he described as the erosion of the US-Russian arms control regime.

He added that he cannot stress enough that this arms control regime has provided security benefits to the entire international community by restricting strategic competition in armaments. He emphasized that the termination of such agreements without any alternative could lead to destabilizing activities.

The Open Skies Agreement was signed in 1992, and entered into force in 2002. It is the brainchild of US President Dwight Eisenhower in 1955.

Trump's decision heightens doubts about whether Washington will seek to extend the "New Start 2010" treaty, which imposes the last remaining restrictions on the United States and Russia's deployment of strategic nuclear weapons of no more than 1,500 each, and the treaty expires in February.

Last year, the Trump administration removed the United States from the mid-range nuclear power treaty with Russia.

A senior administration official said that in the past few days, American officials have begun talks with Russian officials about a new round of nuclear weapons negotiations "to begin formulating the next generation of measures to curb nuclear weapons."