US to Withdraw From Open Skies Treaty: NYT

US President Donald Trump will inform Russia that the United States will begin a six-month clock to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty – “negotiated three decades ago to allow nations to fly over each other’s territory with elaborate sensor equipment to assure that they are not preparing for military action,” reports David Sanger for the New York Times. Sanger expresses concern that the next step may be US withdrawal from the New START treaty, which limits the two countries to 1,550 deployed nuclear missiles each – enough to destroy the planet, let alone adversaries. That treaty expires in February. Trump’s goal is to convince China, which has 300 such weapons, to agree to limits as well. “American officials have long complained that Moscow was violating the Open Skies accord by not permitting flights over a city where it was believed Russia was deploying nuclear weapons that could reach Europe, as well as forbidding flights over major Russian military exercises,” Sanger reports, noting that the treaty does not address satellites. The report explains that such flights are less necessary with data available online. The treaty has more than 30 other signatories, and the expectation is that Russia may cut off their flights. – YaleGlobal