The main document of the "Open Skies Treaty" was signed on March 24, 1992, and the practical implementation of aerial inspections began in 2001. During this time, 34 the Open Skies Treaty member countries have performed about 1,500 observation flights. All signatories enjoy the right to fly over the territories of other states, both on their own planes and on leased ones, in accordance with allocated quotas, which, in their opinion, “increases transparency and reduces the risk of mistakes in assessing the situation.”

America's discontent

Practical implementation of the Treaty has been going on for almost twenty years, and until recently all the participating States remained satisfied with this agreement. Frictions arose at times, but they managed to be settled through dialogue, including between the Kremlin and the White House.

However, the intensity of passion increased after the 2016 US presidential election campaign, due to the so-called "Russian interference" in the electoral process. Through the media, interested political forces formed a negative image of Russia and its actions on the world stage. Against this background, in the press, on any occasion related to Russia, they fanned the elephant out of a fly.

The rare appearance over the New World of "reconnaissance aircraft" of the "Tu" brand with the identification marks of the Russian Aerospace Forces, performing tasks of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation as part of flights under the Open Skies Treaty program, was no exception. The Tu-154M-LK1 attracted great attention of the American media: in August 2017, its crew flew at an altitude of about one kilometre over Washington to photograph Capitol Hill, the Pentagon and the CIA headquarters in Langley. It should be recalled here that this was not an amateur activity of Russian pilots, and all such flights are carried out with the permission of the American side and along pre-agreed routes.

Actually, nothing unusual happened - the usual observation of well-known objects, in strict accordance with international obligations. However, the tense geopolitical situation was reflected in the "fried" headlines of the American media. Even more irritation was caused by the appearance in the American sky of the newest Tu-214ON, which underwent international certification the summer before last. The first few flights of this aircraft took place in April last year from Rosecrantz airfield over Texas, New Mexico and Colorado.

Separate American media wrote that the new Russian Tu-214ON aircraft are equipped with too powerful onboard equipment, and the requested flight routes (over the White House, etc.) are provocative in nature. Meanwhile, they added, the Kremlin limits the frequency of flights over the enclave in Kaliningrad, and also does not allow aerial inspections over South Ossetia and Abkhazia (in fact, Moscow does not allow flights closer than 10 km to the state border with Georgia).

Similar statements were soon repeated by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Moreover, he made his own contribution, accusing Moscow of "violating the provisions of the Treaty" by refusing to issue permits for flights over "the occupied Georgian territory in the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia ... as well as the Crimean peninsula." At the same time, the critics of the Kremlin “forget” to mention that, for its part, Washington does not allow Russia to the Hawaiian Islands and Alaska. And the territory of Crimea, according to the United States, belongs to Ukraine, which means that permits for flights over the peninsula should be requested in Kiev, and not in Moscow. And in order to request such flights from Russia, you just need to recognize Crimea as Russian territory.

Your word, Comrade Trump!

For a long time, the current US President did not express his own opinion on this issue. An end to his patience was put by the regular flights of the Tu-154M-LK1 in March 2019, when a steel bird with stars on its wings surveyed the southeastern regions of the United States. “Russia is not complying with the treaty, and if they do not return to it, we will withdraw from it,” Donald Trump said. And he added that by its desire to withdraw from the treaty, Washington is influencing Moscow in such a way that it will want to reconsider its approaches and reach a new "better" agreement.

So, on May 21, 2020, the White House made the final decision to withdraw from the Treaty. This was publicly announced by President Trump, and the US State Department published an open letter (https://ee.usembassy.gov/2020-05-22-1/). There, Russia is accused of many "sins", often in no way connected with the Open Skies Treaty, and he is demanding it - no less - "a change in the course of the Kremlin." Of course, the Russian top political leadership will not agree to this, even for the sake of preserving such an important Treaty. According to one of the clauses of the Agreement on DOs, the procedure for withdrawing from the agreement lasts six months. It turns out that closer to winter, the American airspace will be closed not only for Russia, but for all countries - members of the Open Skies Treaty.

As of today, America, its allies and partners have the opportunity to take pictures of all the territory of Russia, including Kaliningrad. Reconnaissance aircraft of NATO countries even flew over the Arctic regions of Russia. The only thing that their crews have to observe is not to descend below the set altitude over Moscow and to limit the duration of flights (500 km) over Kaliningrad.

Many independent experts in the West, interviewed by the media, consider Trump's Open Skies decision to be wrong. “It’s really hard to find what we’ll get out of the Treaty,” said former US Ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer. "If only because we fly more flights over Russia than Russians over the United States." At the end of President Obama's term, the US reported three times as many flights as Russia. But, as you know, gentlemen play by the rules, as long as they suit them and play in their favour, and then either stop playing, or these rules change again in their favour.