AMBASSADOR RAISES CFE COMPLIANCE CONCERNS

S E C R E T YEREVAN 000891 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2014 TAGS: PARM PREL KCFE AM SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RAISES CFE COMPLIANCE CONCERNS REF: STATE 79196 Classified By: Ambassador Ordway for reasons 1.5 (b) and (D) ¶1. (S) Ambassador presented points per reftel to Minister of Defense Serge Sargsyan April 12. Sargsyan first responded by agreeing that "it was strange" that Armenia had not declared the MT-LBs, and it was an incident that would not be repeated. (Note: The Armenian side freely acknowledge that there are MT-LBs in their inventory, and the Minister seemed taken aback by the fact they had not been declared. End Note.) Sargsyan briefly became combative when he deduced that the source of the information about pre-inspection inventory was not the CFE inspection team, and denied that any equipment had been moved. He volunteered that the weapons system in question was not MT-LBs but Chinese-made weapons in the Armenian arsenal; and that any pre-inspection movements had legitimate reasons--a point the Ambassador rebutted. Sargsyan finally conceded that perhaps some weapons had been moved by a "strange or sick person," and that he would look in to the matter to ensure that it did not happen again. ¶2. (S) Ambassador also raised reftel points with Foreign Minister Oskanian April 14. He could provide no further elucidation of the issue at this time, but clearly understood the serious situation that the country would face if the Secretary were unable to make the CTR certification for SIPDIS Armenia. ORDWAY