Conference of States Parties to the Open Skies Treaty discusses U.S. intent to withdraw from the Treaty

VIENNA, 7 July 2020 - Canada and Hungary, as the Depositaries of the Treaty on Open Skies, convened a Conference of States Parties to the Treaty on 6 July 2020. This Conference was organized following the receipt of the notification of intent to withdraw from the Treaty by the United States of America on 22 May 2020.

Due to the restrictions introduced to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 worldwide, the Conference was organized as a video-teleconference. The online event brought together 188 representatives and experts of the 34 States Parties from the different Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Ministries of Defence, Arms Control Organisations and Vienna based Delegations.

As stipulated by the Treaty, the Conference provided States Parties with the opportunity to share views on the effect of the withdrawal of the United States of America on the Treaty. During extensive discussions, which offered a broad range of views the Delegations assessed, inter alia, the overall impact on operational functionality of the Treaty, the impact on the allocation of observation quotas and on financial arrangements within the Treaty, and other potential effects on the Treaty.