Senior diplomat informs member states of Open Skies Treaty of Russia’s reasons for exit

VIENNA, July 20. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has listed in detail Russia’s reasons for leaving the Treaty on Open Skies at a conference of the Open Skies Treaty member states, Konstantin Gavrilov, head of Russia’s delegation to the Vienna negotiations on military security and arms control told TASS on Tuesday. "The reasons for Russia exiting the Treaty have been repeatedly voiced by the high-ranking representatives of Russia’s Foreign Ministry. Today as well they were presented in great detail during the conference by the Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov. They include: the refusal of the member states to officially confirm the guarantees on information protection received by the observation equipment during observation flights over Russian territory as well as the failure to provide guarantees of unobstructed Russian Open Skies missions over US military objects in Europe," he said following the conference of the Open Skies Treaty member states where the consequences of Russia exiting the treaty were reviewed. "I think, any sensible person understands that we could not leave our country’s territory open for observation flights, realizing that information gathered as a result is being handed over to Washington in a roundabout way. This is inadmissible because it fundamentally contradicts Russia’s national security interests," the diplomat noted. Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Russia was doing everything to preserve the treaty and the responsibility for its unraveling lies with the US that actively upholds the transparency in the military sphere "only in those cases when it plans to implement some of its own advantages through it." The agency noted that the situation with the treaty shows the futility of efforts to attain unilateral advantages while ignoring Moscow’s interests and concerns. It urged Western partners to realize that they cannot ensure their security without taking into account the security of Russia and its allies. The Russian Foreign Ministry also reported that Russia will completely exit the Treaty on Open Skies on December 18, 2021. Due to its decision to withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies, Russia has suggested reactivating a mechanism of negotiations created after the US withdrawal from the agreement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "Speaking about practical consequences of Russia’s withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies, [Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey] Ryabkov noted that quotas of inspection flights and the scale of the distribution of expenses of the Open Skies Consultative Commission will need to be reviewed, and presiding functions will need to be transferred to one of its unofficial working groups. In order to solve those issues, it was suggested to reactivate the mechanism of negotiations, created after the US withdrawal from the treaty," the statement says. Russia to fulfill its commitments Russia will continue to implement its commitments under the Open Skies Treaty (OST) until its withdrawal from it on December 18, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday. "Until December 18, Russia will fully use its rights and fulfill its obligations as an OST member state, naturally, with due account of the current situation linked with the COVID-19 pandemic, which, regrettably, give no grounds for much optimism so far," he said at a conference of the OST member states. He recalled that following Russia’s withdrawal from the treaty, it will be necessary to revise observation flight quotas, the distribution of expenditures of the Open Skies Consultative Commission (OSCC) and hand over the presidency in one of its unofficial working groups. However, according to Ryabkov, the Russian side is "ready in principle" to pay its share of the commission’s expenditures until the end of 2021, but only if there are corresponding legal grounds for that. "I will tell you this: if someone thinks that Russia will pay its share of the commission’s expenditures for 2021 on the basis of a decision taken after our withdrawal from it, he is wrong," he said. "If our colleagues and the OSCC joint executive secretariat want to settle this problem, they should they should be resourceful and constructive in the next five months." The Russian foreign ministry said after the conference that the Russian side had suggested the negotiating mechanism established in connection with the United States’ withdrawal from the treaty in 2020 be triggered again. "The entire responsibility for the collapse of the Open Skies Treaty rests on the United States. Its withdrawal from it wrecked the balance of interests, rights and obligations of its signatories," the Russian foreign ministry stressed, adding that the treaty member states refused to reckon with Russia’s proposals and interests when Washington exited from the treaty. Europe's attitude The European member states of the Treaty on Open Skies have refused to see Russia’s position and shift the blame from the US, Konstantin Gavrilov, head of Russia’s delegation to the Vienna negotiations on military security and arms control told TASS on Tuesday following a conference of the Open Skies Treaty member states where the consequences of Russia exiting the treaty were reviewed. "As for the conference results, then the absence of political realism of the states remaining in the treaty has resurfaced. They again flatly refused to perceive our position and following the well-known templates presented a mantra that has nothing to do with reality on the ‘violations’ of the Open Skies Treaty on the part of Russia which supposedly became the cause of its erosion. At the same time, some Europeans and Canadians were freeing the US of all blame which could do nothing but leave the Open Skies Treaty in the conditions of Russian ‘abuses’," he said, calling this position "duplicitous." "The Europeans only say that they are interested in ensuring security and transparency in the military sphere. Because in reality by their thoughtless repetition of pro-American talking points (I won’t be surprised if before the conference the colleagues received instructions from their ‘big brother’) they are practically driving the European arms control architecture into a dead end. In case after all the negotiation partners would want to begin thoughtful dialogue on the future of the common European stability, they would have to take into account the security interests of Russia and our allies," the diplomat concluded. Russia’s decision to withdraw from Open Skies Treaty The Russian foreign ministry released a statement in mid-January announcing that Russia was beginning domestic procedures to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty "over the lack of progress in what concerns the removal of obstacles for its continuation in the new conditions," i.e. after Washington’s withdrawal from the treaty. On May 19, The Russian State Duma unanimously passed a law on the denunciation of the Open Skies Treaty. The Federation Council will address this matter on June 2. For years, Washington had been accusing Moscow of exercising a selective approach to the implementation of the Open Skies Treaty and violating a number of its provisions. Russia had been making counter claims. In 2017, Washington imposed a number of restrictions on Russia’s observation flights over the US territory, to which Moscow gave a tit-for-tat response. In November 2020, the United States withdrew from the treaty. The Treaty on Open Skies was signed in March 1992 in Helsinki by 27 member nations of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), known as Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) before 1995. The main purposes of the open skies concept are to develop transparency, render assistance in monitoring compliance with the existing or future arms control agreements, broaden possibilities for preventing crises and managing crisis situations. The treaty establishes a program of unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of its participants. The treaty came into effect on January 1, 2002 after being ratified by 20 countries. Russia ratified the Treaty on Open Skies on May 26, 2001. Read more