This Would Be A Good Time for An Open Skies Treaty Overflight
Verse of the week:
“I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”
— Wendell Berry, “The Peace of Wild Things”
Vladimir Putin is behaving badly again. He’s massing troops and equipment near Russia’s border with Ukraine, a border he previously breached in 2014. The last time he upped the ante, in December 2018, Washington demonstrated its solidarity with Kiev by carrying out an “extraordinary,” short-notice overflight allowed under the provisions of the Open Skies Treaty. Canadian, French, German, Romanian and British observers accompanied U.S. personnel, as permitted under the Treaty’s ride-sharing option.