if the US does leave the treaty, the statement argues its Nato allies should stay in the agreement, noting that European states perform 55% of the flights and are the subject of nearly 59% of Russian overflights. European states do not have the satellite-surveillance capacity of the US, so are particularly reliant on Open Skies flights, which can be carried out under cloud cover.
It calls for the remaining parties to the treaty to meet within two months of a US withdrawal to discuss how the agreement would function without Washington. That would involve limits on what information Nato members could share with the US.
“It’s important for western European governments, to be prepared for this,” said Andreas Persbo, ELN research director. “For them this treaty has some value, and it would be in their interest to continue flying over Russia, and Russia would like to continue to overfly western Europe. The question is can that be maintained without Russia exacting too heavy a price from western governments.”
Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News 