16 former military officers, security officials and diplomats from several European countries, including Russia, have signed an open letter in defense of the open skies Treaty. This agreement allows 34 countries to carry out reconnaissance flights over each other’s territory with the aim of strengthening confidence and increasing transparency. The authors of the letter is concerned about reports that the US authorities consider the possibility of withdrawing from the Treaty and urged Washington to think again.Open letter in defense of the open skies Treaty published on the website of the European organization, the European Leadership Network. It was signed by 16 former military officers, security officials and diplomats from eight countries. Among the signatories is a representative of Russia — the former Director of the foreign intelligence Service Vyacheslav Trubnikov.The letter also was signed by: former OSCE Secretary General Ambassador Giancarlo Aragona (Italy), former permanent under Secretary, NATO Heinrich BRAUS (Germany), former chief of staff of the armed forces Camporini Vincenzo (Italy), former chief military inspector of the Navy and former Deputy chief of the General staff of the armed forces Alain Coldefy (France), former Minister of foreign Affairs and former Minister of defence Espen Barth EIDE (Norway), former Minister of defence Anatoly Gritsenko (Ukraine), former chief of the defence force of Kaskeala Juhani (Finland), former Deputy Supreme commander of NATO forces in Europe John Chalmers Mccoll (UK), former Chairman of the NATO military Committee Klaus Naumann (Germany), former commander of the tactical air force and a former military Advisor to the Prime Minister, Bernard norlain (France), former Minister of defense Giampaolo Di Paola (Italy), former defense Minister Elisabeth Rehn (Finland), former chief of staff David Richards (UK), former national security adviser Peter Ricketts (UK), former Director of the NATO College Klaus Wittmann (Germany).The authors of the letter is concerned at reports in the media that U.S. authorities are considering the option of withdrawal from the Treaty on open skies and expect to announce its decision in September.”For nearly two decades, the Treaty on open skies have enabled the participants to gather information about military forces and activities of each other by means of aerial surveillance. 34 States, including the United States, Russia and most European countries, this multilateral agreement could realize 1517 observation flights — with the concurrence of the flybys in a short time and without weapons on Board. The contract increased military transparency and predictability, strengthened trust and understanding,”— said in their appeal.”We urge all parties to support the Treaty and to use all match’good channels of dialogue and resolve their disputes,” they write.The call is addressed primarily to Washington. “The administration trump should reconsider its intention to withdraw from the Treaty on open skies,” the letter reads. Its authors remind that the benefits of the Treaty to Washington was allocated next to a prominent former US officials, including President Dwight D. Eisenhower, President George Bush, Secretary of state George Shultz, defense Secretary William Perry, Secretary of defense James Mattis and Senator Sam Nunn.Read more”Washington benefits from this “tool of interaction between the military” because it promotes greater transparency and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region— reminiscent of the signatories.— And while the benefits of exploration and confidence-building measures limited to the United States, they are very real to America’s allies in NATO. Strategic benefits for the United States of “stability in the Euro-Atlantic region” is also very real. In addition, the value of political symbolism: care the United States no longer will allow Americans to fly over Russia, but will allow the Russian side to continue to collect data about U.S. military activities and facilities in Europe. The US withdrawal will further weaken an international architecture for arms control and will be another blow to global stability.”At the same time, the authors of the letter call on all parties to return to full compliance with the Treaty. Recall that with the entry into force of the Treaty on open skies in force in 2002, the Washington put forward various claims to Moscow, as, however, and Vice versa. The most part was resolved, but two issues remain on the agenda for several years.First, the US and its allies consider illegal the fact that the Russian authorities have introduced a limit of 500 miles for flights over the Kaliningrad region. This region is of particular interest to the US and NATO suspect that in recent years, Russia has markedly stepped up its military activities. The second disagreement is political. The US and its allies consider a violation of the Treaty by the fact that Russia denies to foreign States in conducting flights in a ten-kilometer strip along the border with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Last year, the US has added another claim to Russia: to reduce their flyby trajectory one program during Russian exercises “Center-2019” (read more about the charges from the United States, “Kommersant” reported on 8 April. Russia has five counter-claims to the United States, read more about them in the article from April 27.As previously reported by “Kommersant”, the US has provided Russia with its claims under the Treaty on open skies in written form. The document was handed to the Russian delegation in January during the bilateral talks in Venot. In Moscow it was considered “categorical”. Deputy foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told “Kommersant” that “is the United States violate the Treaty and are dealing out of it, and not Russia.”Meanwhile, the collective authors of the letter are convinced that to maintain the Treaty could hypothetically and in the case of the United States. “The contract will continue to bring benefit to its participants, even if the US decides to leave him,” the letter reads.Elena Chernenko
