Insufficient strength is scorned: the United States has just withdrawn from an important arms control treaty, and Russia opposes it to be invalid

Global Network reported on November 23 that the United States announced its formal withdrawal from the "Open Sky Treaty" the day before. This is another important arms control treaty that Trump has withdrawn since he took office. There are more than 30 signatories to the Open Skies Treaty, mainly between Russia and NATO. The withdrawal of the United States from the treaty is a major blow to the security situation in Europe. The so-called "Open Skies Treaty" by

was an important treaty that was led by the United States and Russia in 1992 and concluded jointly by 35 countries. The treaty stipulates that signatories can conduct unarmed aerial reconnaissance in each other's territory, aiming to increase military transparency and reduce miscalculations. The treaty stipulates that each country conducts about 100 surveillance flights each year, of which 42 are aimed at Russia, and Russia also conducts 42 surveillance flights a year.

Although such investigation activities are confirmed after communicating with the host country’s government and military in advance, and will be executed after coordination, but because NATO countries have agreed to open the sky to Russia, the trust between the two parties can be said to have been considerable. The improvement of this is of great significance to safeguarding European security. Although the "Open Skies Treaty" is mainly implemented between Russia and NATO, it is essentially a battleground between the United States and Russia.

Although the United States withdrew from the "Open Skies Treaty" on the pretext of "Russian violation of the treaty", because the United States is the leader of NATO, even if the United States withdraws from the "Open Skies Treaty", it can still use NATO's internal intelligence sharing mechanism to obtain information from other allies. Obtaining first-hand intelligence on Russian investigations by other NATO allies, but Russia has lost an important means of investigating the United States. The United States has undoubtedly taken a big advantage. No wonder Russia will be extremely angry.

Russia does not want to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia's overall national strength has declined sharply, and its military strength has also declined. With the satellite reconnaissance system left over by the Soviet Union basically exhausted, air reconnaissance is the best means to obtain first-hand reconnaissance intelligence on the United States.

During the more than ten years from 2002 to 2020, Russia dispatched Tu-154 reconnaissance planes to investigate important targets including the White House and the Pentagon. The United States did not compromise on the implementation of the treaty. However, with the withdrawal of the United States from the "Open Skies Treaty", Russia has completely lost a means of conducting aerial surveys of the United States. Despite this situation, Russia still has to accept it. Because the "Open Skies Treaty" is not only a bilateral treaty between the United States and Russia, it also includes more than 30 European countries. In the current situation where Russia is extremely lack of satellite investigations, if it wants to maintain its legal investigation activities in European countries surrounding Russia, Russia has to stay in the "Open Skies Treaty" to allow the United States to take advantage of it.

For such a result, Russia has no other better choice. After all, Europe is Russia’s neighbor, and changes in the military power of the European region are Russia’s primary concern. Although the North American continent is equally important, Russia’s insistence on withdrawing from the "Open Skies Treaty" in the United States is difficult to achieve both.

There is a high probability that Russia will stick to the "Open Sky Treaty". In order to obtain the necessary military mobilization of intelligence from NATO countries in Europe, Russia can only exchange its airspace by opening its airspace. The reason why the United States dared to bully Russia so blatantly is essentially because the overall national strength of the United States is far stronger than that of Russia.

Even if Russia also withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty, the United States can still obtain a large amount of Russian intelligence by virtue of its powerful satellite reconnaissance methods, but Russia cannot use the same means to obtain American intelligence. The experience in Russia actually reminds us again: If you fall behind, you will be bullied, no matter who you are.