Open Skies?

Do you know about the Open Skies Treaty? It was signed in 1992. Bill Gertz reports,

Until this week, the United States and other European allies who are a party to the 34-nation treaty were conducting weekly overflights above Russia during the past month. The Russian government this week canceled a planned U.S. surveillance flight over Russian territory in a bid to limit spying on massed troops facing off against Ukraine and Eastern Europe, according to U.S. officials.

Russia has deployed between 40,000 and 80,000 troops near Ukraine’s eastern border. Other Russian troops are said to be deployed in areas close to the Baltic.

Under the Open Skies Treaty, the sole permitted reason for canceling such overflights is flight safety and U.S. officials said that was not the reason for the Russians’ action. “They’re getting ready to do something [to Ukraine] and they don’t want us looking,” said one official familiar with the canceled flight.

Read more here.