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US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell
Berlin should pile pressure on Moscow instead of criticizing America's withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty, a US envoy told the German foreign minister, as the two NATO allies clashed over Washington's move to ditch the accord.
The US announced its intention to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty (OST) earlier this week, unnerving its NATO allies in Europe.
Among those calling for the preservation of the 2002 multilateral deal, which allows for surveillance flights over the territories of its signatories, was German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
Germany's top diplomat sounded the alarm that the looming US withdrawal would "significantly reduce" the scope of the treaty,
adding that Berlin would "work intensively" with "like-minded partners" to talk the US out of leaving the treaty in the following six months.
The rhetoric from the European powerhouse did not sit well with the US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, who has
courted controversy in the past
over his repeated attempts to lecture Berlin on a range of domestic issues, from its military spending to the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
"Instead of complaining about the US reaction,
Heiko Maas should have ramped up pressure on Russia in recent years so that it meets its obligations [under the Open Skies Treaty]," Grenell said in an interview with
Rheinische Post on Saturday
.
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