Russia has officially withdrawn from the Open Skies Treaty (DON). This became known on Saturday, December 18.
Moscow made this decision after the United States withdrew from the treaty, and its allies in Europe did not provide guarantees that they would not transfer information collected during overflights over Russia to Washington.
At the moment, it is not known how Belarus will now act, which, within the framework of the agreement, was part of a group united with Russia. Minsk said that the decision will be made after careful analysis and consultations with Moscow.
“Much will also depend on the positions of other OON member states. In this regard, at the last meeting of the UNSC (Consultative Commission on Open Skies), the Belarusian side announced that in 2022 it would not accept observation missions and conduct observation flights, “Izvestia was told at the Permanent Mission of Belarus to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. (OSCE).
The Don was signed in 1992 as one of the confidence-building measures in Europe after the Cold War. Under the treaty, the participating countries are allowed to openly collect information about each other’s armed forces.
On December 17, the head of the Russian delegation at the Vienna talks on military security and arms control Konstantin Gavrilov said that after Russia left the Don, Moscow could cooperate with Minsk on technical issues.
On the same day, Gavrilov said that Russia has satellites that can track the movements of the military in both Europe and the United States. According to him, this instrument can become an alternative to DON.
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