Announcements can be made tomorrow, an administrative source tells CNN.
The agreement signed in 1992 allowed member states to conduct short, unarmed reconnaissance flights over all other countries to collect data on troops and military activities.
It is part of a broad network of arms control agreements intended to ensure stability and certainty in the European continent and reduce the risk of misunderstandings that can trigger conflicts by ensuring transparency.
European allies, who have lobbied for the US to remain in the agreement, see it as a central part of their security infrastructure and the US decision to withdraw is likely to add to the tension in trans-Atlantic relations, analysts said.
The president, and many officials in his administration, have criticized the idea that the United States must be bound by international treaties. But analysts say ignoring other agreements will potentially deepen global instability.
The Trump administration has withdrawn from the Nuclear Forces Mid-Term Agreement and has set conditions for renewing the remaining nuclear weapons pact with Russia – the NEW Start Agreement – that experts and analysts say all but guarantee it will not be extended.
The Open Skies Agreement is part of “a set of reinforcing documents that create stability and certainty in and around Europe,” said Jon Wolfsthal, director of the Nuclear Crisis Group at Global Zero. “Trump and his advisers have systematically destroyed the agreement partly because of Russia’s disobedience, but when you look at Trump’s approach, it tumbles him down and doesn’t put anything in his place and sometimes, makes it more difficult for people to put anything in his place. ‘”
“It’s about ignoring all the tools that have proven to safeguard the interests of America and allies,” Wolfsthal said.
The US accused Russia of not obeying the agreement. In early March, Amb. Jim Gilmore, US Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said that the government was looking for “reciprocity” from Moscow on the agreement.
“We think that we should ask Russia to take responsibility for the Open Skies Agreement,” he said. “The President’s policy is that in all agreements there must be reciprocity. If we will strictly comply with this – for our treaty obligations, we expect Russia to hold tightly their treaty obligations.”
The US has also accused Moscow in the past of imposing flight restrictions near its exclusion in Kaliningrad, an area between Poland and Lithuania where the Russian military maintains a strong presence.
According to the State Department, the agreement “was designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants, regardless of size, a direct role in gathering information through aerial imaging of military forces and activities of their concern.”
Last year Trump signed a document indicating his intention to step down, according to people familiar with the decision, but discussions were ongoing at the time.
European countries, including Ukraine, have pushed to preserve the agreement, seeing it as an integral part of their national security. Some analysts said the agreement, which was designed to increase confidence that countries were not planning attacks, was a driving factor in Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine with a smaller military force that was not too visible from the air.
European countries say any dispute regarding Russia’s compliance must be dealt with through negotiations. Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, has long been skeptical of arms control agreements, and his allies in the government have challenged Russia’s claims of obedience. Before he left his post, he urged Trump to sign documents indicating US intentions to step down, said two US officials.
Jennifer Hansler from CNN contributed to this report.
