Four senior Democratic lawmakers said on Tuesday they believed the Trump adminis...
WASHINGTON - Four senior Democratic lawmakers said on Tuesday they believed the Trump administration may withdraw from a treaty that allows unarmed surveillance flights over U.S., Russian and other territory, warning it would be a gift to Russia and undermine confidence in the U.S. commitment to Ukraine.
“The Open Skies Treaty is a critical element of U.S. and European security, and a decision to withdraw would be another blow to regional stability as well as Ukrainian security,” wrote Senators Robert Menendez and Jack Reed, respectively the top Democrats on the Senate foreign relations and armed services panels, and congressmen Eliot Engel and Adam Smith, chairs of the House foreign affairs and armed services panels, respectively.
Asked to comment on the letter, a State Department spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “We do not comment on congressional correspondence. We continue to implement the treaty and are in full compliance with our obligations under this treaty, unlike Russia.”In their letter, the four Democrats said the United States carried out an extraordinary flight under the treaty in December 2018, after Russia had opened fire on and seized three Ukrainian navy ships and their crews in a Nov.
In response, the United States in 2016 restricted Russian observation flights over the Pacific Fleet in Hawaii and missile defense interceptor sites at Fort Greely, Alaska.
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