Russia withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty

1 Russia

Vladimir Putin signed the law on the denunciation of the ’Open Skies Treaty’. The document was published on the legal information website. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, listed the list of all violations of the Open Skies Treaty by the USA and the Western countries on her Telegram channel. She noted that the USA incited other participating states, especially Georgia, to violate the treaty with their statements and actions.

2 Russia — The NATO

The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg proposed to hold a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council. He noted that «there are many topics for discussion that meet the common interests of the NATO and Russia». Jens Stoltenberg voiced the topics for the possible negotiations. Exchange of views on military maneuvers to prevent misunderstandings and escalation. Sufficient transparency of the military activities of each of the parties, in order to avoid unintentional accidents in the air and at sea. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commented on this statement. She stated that Russia is ready to discuss the de-escalation and incident prevention measures with the NATO. Maria Zakharova noted that without the military experts, such dialogue wouldn’t make sense.

3 Ukraine — The USA

The Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy stated in an interview to the Axios that during a meeting with the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and US senators, an increase of the military aid was discussed. According to him, «the enhancement of security in the Black and Azov Seas was discussed as well». Vladimir Zelensky added that «some other issues related to providing of an aid to Ukraine in the security matters were also discussed». The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Ukraine on 6th of May. A delegation of American senators visited Ukraine on 1st of June.

4 The USA — Russia

The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said during an interview with ’Axios’ that during his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Joe Biden intends to «directly and frankly» say what can be expected from Washington if the «aggressive actions», attributed to Moscow, continue. Blinken added that Biden intends to discuss with Putin the possible joint enhancement of the international security, strategic stability, and arms control.

5. Armenia — Azerbaijan

The National Security Service of Armenia arrested a former military man and an another Armenian citizen on charges of spying for Azerbaijan. It was reported that during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh in the fall of 2020, they transferred military and state secrets about the deployment of Armenian troops, the personal data of the commanders of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and the number of weapons to the Azerbaijani special services. The ministry noted that «the arrested men gave a frank testimony. The court chose an arrest as a preventive measure against them».

6 Japan

The Japanese mass media reported that the Japanese Armed Forces, Coast Guard, Police, and the Foreign Ministry carry out secret joint command and staff exercises for several years. They practice counter-actions in case if China tries to take over the Senkaku Islands, currently controlled by Japan. It was noted that several scenarios of the exercises are being worked out. According to the media reports, at some stages the US military have also joined the HQ exercises ’’at the level of colonels». China considers the Senkaku Islands as illegally occupied Chinese territories. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS