"Open Sky Treaty" faces major challenges
On July 6, local time, the parties to the "Open Sky Treaty" held a video conference in Vienna, Austria. This is the first meeting of the States parties since the United States decided to withdraw from the treaty, focusing on the future of the treaty. Previous analysis believes that the United States may abandon the decision to withdraw on the premise of the appeal of European countries and Russia’s willingness to negotiate, but the results of the meeting show that the current position of the United States has not changed.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Libuyakov told the media after the 6th meeting that most participants expressed regret over the US decision to withdraw from the treaty. The parties concerned should hold dialogues on the basis of equality and mutual respect, rather than impose their views on each other. At the same time, they should seriously analyze the reasons for the current situation, strive to bridge their differences, and maintain the Open Sky Treaty. Libuyakov said that the "Open Sky Treaty" Consultative Committee meeting will be held in Vienna next week, and the parties concerned will also hold a meeting on the treaty in October. However, from the current situation, the United States has no obvious political will to seek a solution.
The "Open Sky Treaty" was signed by the United States, Russia and most NATO countries in 1992 and entered into force in 2002. According to the treaty, the parties can carry out unarmed aerial reconnaissance on each other’s territory as required. The treaty aims to increase transparency, increase military mutual trust, and reduce the risk of conflict. This is an important international security treaty reached after the Cold War, which is conducive to monitoring arms control and maintaining world peace and stability.
On May 21 this year, the US State Department said in a statement that the United States believes that continuing to be a member of the "Open Sky Treaty" is no longer in the interest of the United States. The United States submitted a notice of withdrawal decision to all parties on May 22, and said that it will formally withdraw from the treaty after six months, unless the Russian side can re-implement the treaty.
Libuyakov responded immediately, stating that the US so-called "Russia did not abide by the treaty" was deliberately fabricated. The Russian side will continue to implement and "strive to maintain" the treaty. "We are willing to continue the dialogue and seek consensus, but we are not acting in accordance with the US government's vision." The US side is "totally unacceptable" in continuing to fulfill the conditions set forth in the treaty.
The United States initiated the withdrawal mechanism, which aroused great concern from the European Union, and Borelli, the senior representative of the EU’s foreign affairs and security policy, called on the US to reconsider the withdrawal decision. He issued a statement saying, "I regret that the United States announced its withdrawal from the Open Sky Treaty." As a "critical measure for building trust and security," this treaty has an important role in "European and global security and stability." The Foreign Ministry of Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden issued a joint statement saying that they will continue to implement the Open Sky Treaty.
The director of the Carnegie International Peace Foundation's Moscow Center, Dmitry Treinen, recently wrote that the treaty can continue to exist without the participation of the United States, with the agreement of other parties. Since most of the contracting states announced their willingness to continue to implement the Open Sky Treaty, the treaty can be maintained.
However, Nikolai Sokov, a senior fellow at the Vienna Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Center, is pessimistic about the prospects of the treaty. He told reporters in this newspaper that the "Open Sky Treaty" is in the interest of the United States and the United States insists on withdrawing from the contract because the unilateralism is the only cause. The successive withdrawal of the United States from a series of acts involving international security treaties may enable the United States and Russia to start a new round of arms race, and the world situation will face new factors of instability.
(Report from Brussels, July 7th)