Press Releases

April 11, 2014 

HPSCI Chairman Mike Rogers Urges President Obama to  
Reject President Putin’s Attempt to Get a Clearer Look into US and NATO Countries

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) Chairman Mike Rogers today urged President Obama to reject a request by President Putin to upgrade Russia’s technical capability for observational flights of US and NATO counties by airplane.

The United States, NATO, and Russia in 1992 signed the Open Skies Treaty. The Treaty allows the parties to conduct specific, numbered, and targeted observational airplane flights over each other’s countries. Any changes to the very specific guidelines in the Treaty must be certified by all parties before they can be used.

In a letter sent to President Obama today, Chairman Rogers wrote, “Given current world events, President Putin appears to be more than willing to disregard international norms of behavior in seeking geopolitical advantage. We should not now naively believe he will unilaterally adhere to the limitations of the Open Skies Treaty.”

Rogers said, “Putin’s attempt to upgrade Russia’s sensing capabilities now  is particularly problematic.  I have serious concerns about the technical advantages Russia would gain.”

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