The Trump administration notified international partners on Thursday that it’s pulling out of a treaty that permits 30-plus nations to conduct unarmed, observation flights over each other’s territory — overflights initially set up to promote trust and avert conflict between the U.S. and Russia.
The administration says it wants out of the Open Skies Treaty because Russia is violating the pact and imagery collected during the flights can be obtained quickly at less cost from U.S. or commercial satellites.
As he left the White House Thursday, President Donald Trump said “Russia didn’t adhere to the treaty, so until they adhere, we will pull out.”
However, Trump left the door open for future discussions with Russia.
“But there’s a very good chance we’ll make a new agreement or do something to put that agreement back together,” he told reporters.
Exiting the treaty, however, is expected to strain relations with Moscow and upset some members of Congress and European allies, which benefit from the imagery collected by Open Skies flights conducted by the U.S.
Trump also said to expect an announcement soon about holding a meeting in the U.S. with the leaders of the world’s major economies.
Trump had scheduled the Group of Seven summit for June 10-12 at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. But in March, he announced he was canceling the annual meeting because of the pandemic and that the leaders would confer by video conference instead.
“It looks like G-7 may be on because we’ve done well, we’re ahead of schedule in terms of our country and some of the other countries are doing very well,” Trump said.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm
QUICKTAKE ON SOCIAL:
Follow QuickTake on Twitter: twitter.com/quicktake
Like QuickTake on Facebook: facebook.com/quicktake
Follow QuickTake on Instagram: instagram.com/quicktake
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://bit.ly/2FJ0oQZ
Email us at quicktakenews@gmail.com
QuickTake by Bloomberg is a global news network delivering up-to-the-minute analysis on the biggest news, trends and ideas for a new generation of leaders.
