Does an international treaty permitting reconnaissance flights favor Russia?
The 1992 Open Skies Treaty allowed 34 signatory countries to conduct "unarmed, short-notice reconnaissance" missions over the others' territories to gather military information, aiming to build transparency and more mutual trust among member nations. The treaty specifies that no part of any member's territory can be declared off-limits. The number of flights is determined by the party's geographical size. Both the U.S. and Russia are allocated 42 flights per year.
Russia violated the treaty by restricting flights over certain parts of its territory, and the U.S. responded by doing the same. In May 2020, the U.S. announced its intention to withdraw, accusing Russia of undermining the pact's "central confidence-building function." It made that step official on Nov. 22.
