US Unlikely To Rejoin Open Skies Treaty, JCPOA Story To Repeat - Ex-UN Disarmament Chief

US Unlikely to Rejoin Open Skies Treaty, JCPOA Story to Repeat - Ex-UN Disarmament Chief

The United States is unlikely to reverse its plans to exit the Open Skies Treaty, though Washington has outlined such a possibility, Angela Kane, a former UN high representative for disarmament affairs, told Sputnik on Friday, suggesting that other signatories will still retain compliance with the landmark post-Cold War agreement, as it has been the case with the Iran nuclear deal

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd May, 2020) The United States is unlikely to reverse its plans to exit the Open Skies Treaty, though Washington has outlined such a possibility, Angela Kane, a former UN high representative for disarmament affairs, told Sputnik on Friday, suggesting that other signatories will still retain compliance with the landmark post-Cold War agreement, as it has been the case with the Iran nuclear deal.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said that he will pull out of the treaty until Russia adheres to it. Washington is set to cease its participation in the treaty within six months, although the president believes that there is "a very good chance we'll make a new agreement or do something to put that agreement back together." Russia has denied any violations of the treaty and said a US withdrawal would undermine the global security system.

"It seems highly unlikely that the US would walk back the decision," Kane, the UN disarmament chief from 2012-2015, said.

The ex-UN official agreed with Russia assessing the US move as another blow to the international security system.

"How can you negotiate when one party is demanding that the other 'return to full compliance with the treaty' before re-considering [its pullout]? I don't believe that it is a matter of re-negotiation � every agreement has flaws, but they should be addressed not with threats but by sitting down with treaty parties and airing the disagreements and clarifying concerns in order to find solutions," Kane, who is also a senior fellow at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, wondered.

The Trump administration, however, has been "dismantling agreements from the day it came into office, not only in arms control but also in many other areas," raising a question over "how reliable a treaty partner the US is," the expert went on.

Under the current administration, the US pulled out of a range of agreements, including the Paris climate deal, the Iran nuclear deal (formally known as the JCPOA) and the Soviet-US Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

The New START Treaty is now the last remaining arms control treaty in force between Russia and the US. With the treaty set to expire in February 2021, Trump is actively touting a new trilateral arms control initiative that would include China, even though the latter ruled out joining such talks.

"It certainly does not bode well for the future of New START [Treaty between Russian and US] ... as there are only eight months left before it expires. And that expiration date is either at the beginning of the second term for President Trump, or under a new US president - in any case, extension discussions will be difficult under these timelines," Kane added.

When asked if she expects other signatories to the Open Skies Treaty to leave, the expert expressed her doubts, replying: "when the US left JCPOA, did the others not remain in it? I would expect the same in this case."

According to Kane, every party to the treaty enjoys the benefits of Open Skies, since it builds confidence and promotes transparency of military activities.

Another aspect is that the US has once again presented its allies with a "fait accompli."

"While the INF was a bilateral treaty, the JCPOA was a multilateral treaty - and it appears that neither [in case with] JCPOA nor Open Skies, there was consultation or discussion with allies prior to the announcement - if there was, it was not made public," Kane stated.

On the other side, Trump also defied the constitution's requirement to give Congress 120 days' notice about his plans to leave the Open Skies Treaty.

"This did not happen, and that is clearly a slap in the face of Congress, a body with a Democratic majority, members of which are often maligned by President Trump in his tweets," the ex-UN official said.

The Open Skies Treaty was signed in 1992 and entered into force in 2002. The agreement allows all 34 countries that have ratified the treaty to conduct unarmed surveillance flights over one another.