TEHRAN (Iran News) – Biden Following Trump : After Joe Biden won the U.S, presidential elections, many in the U.S. and in the world expected him to change the direction of the U.S. policy in the world but it seems most of Biden’s election campaign promises have been void and he goes in the same direction that his predecessor Donald Trump had gone before.
One of the issues that the world expected the U.S. to return to the pre-Trump condition was the country’s return to the Open Skies Treaty with Russia. The pact allows unarmed observation aircraft to fly over countries’ territories to observe military forces.
But the U.S. has informed Russia of its refusal to rejoin a major arms control treaty to mutually conduct surveillance overflights ahead of a presidential summit between the two nuclear rivals.
Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov that the Biden administration had decided not to rejoin the Open Skies Treaty.
Former president Trump withdrew from the agreement that allowed surveillance flights over military facilities in both nations.
“The United States regrets that the treaty on Open Skies has been undermined by Russian violations,” a State Department spokesperson, cited by NBC News, said.
“In concluding its review of the treaty, the United States therefore does not intend to seek to rejoin it given Russia’s failure to take any actions to return to compliance.”
The unnamed spokesperson said recent Russian actions, including in Ukraine, did not indicate it was a partner “committed to confidence building,” referring to Russia’s recent military exercise within its own borders with Ukraine in response to a surge of war games by the U.S. and its NATO allies.
Russia has rejected Washington’s allegations that it failed to abide by the treaty and blasted Trump’s decision to exit the agreement.
The pact allows unarmed observation aircraft to fly over countries’ territories to observe military forces. The treaty was intended to promote transparency and defuse potential tension between Russia and the West.
Biden had censured Trump’s withdrawal from the fact as “short-sighted” when he was still a candidate.
Last May, he said, “In announcing the intent to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty, President Trump has doubled down on his short-sighted policy of going it alone and abandoning American leadership.”
But now it seems he has swallowed his words and does not intend to return to the treaty because of his differences with Russia and it can be a new start for the Cold War between the two countries.
This decision means that only one major arms control treaty between the two powers — the New START treaty, which would have expired in February but the Biden administration moved quickly to extend it for another five years — will remain in place.
Washington’s decision not to re-enter the Open Skies Treaty — which was broadly backed by U.S. allies in Europe and by Democrats in Congress as a trust-building measure between the two nuclear powers — came only weeks prior to a planned summit between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva.
Leading congressional Democrats and members of the European Union had urged the Biden administration to reconsider its exit and also called on Moscow to remain in the pact and lift flight restrictions, notably over its westernmost Kaliningrad region, which lies between NATO allies Lithuania and Poland.
A number of U.S. arms control experts have also criticized the Biden administration’s decision to exit the pact, which they describe as a helpful tool to prevent an inadvertent conflict or crisis.
The Open Skies Treaty is not the only issue that Biden has retreated his promises as he has ignored his presidential election promises like issues of Iran’s nuclear deal and immigrants. His violation of promises now is considered a serious threat to the Democrat Party as the Congress and Senate elections loom.
U.S. Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders has warned Democrats that Republicans will win both the House of Representatives and the Senate next year if Democrats do not renounce obstructionism and fulfill the pledgees that Biden has given.
Regarding the U.S. return to the JCPOA, the Biden Administration is unwilling to remove all sanctions despite the claims had been made in the presidential election.
All one can see, since Biden has taken office, is that Biden is following Trump’s path in some foreign policies of the country and the world cannot expect major change in the behavior of the U.S. administration although Biden’s behavior and tone are softer and alluring unlike his predecessor who used to resort to harsher remarks.
So the world should rely on itself than waiting for any major change in the U.S. behavior because the nature of this arrogant country is unchangeable that it only dictates its policies on other countries and support of terrorists.
The Islamic Republic of Iran since 1979 has tried to show the true nature of the U.S. to the world that the U.S. is not trustworthy, and reliance on this country has no bright future and the world is gradually realizing what Iran has meant by standing against the U.S. excessive-demands.
