Trump announced plans to withdraw U.S. from Open Skies treaty, citing Russian violations
Moscow:
Russia said Thursday that the United States was acting in a dangerous and unpredictable way after Washington pulled out of a key military treaty and decided to put pressure on Iran.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the comments after Washington announced it would end the lifting of sanctions on nations that remain in a nuclear deal signed with Iran. The other parties to the agreement are Great Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.
US officials also said they would withdraw from the Open Skies treaty, which allows military members of each signatory to fly surveillance flights over another member country every year at short notice.
“Washington’s actions are becoming increasingly dangerous and unpredictable,” Zakharova told reporters.
“The nature of this behavior is clearly disruptive,” said Zakharova, accusing Washington of threatening international security.
She also criticized the United States for leaving the INF missile treaty last year and for not committing to renew the new START arms control agreement with Russia, which is set to expire in 2021.
President Donald Trump in 2018 withdrew the United States from a landmark agreement under which Iran had significantly curtailed its nuclear activities and re-imposed sanctions against Iran.
Washington said on Wednesday that it was ending sanctions exemptions for countries remaining in the Iran deal, bringing the deal to the brink of collapse.
Last week, Trump also announced plans to withdraw the U.S. from the Open Skies treaty, citing Russian violations.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
