FRENCH HAVE NOT RECEIVED RUSSIAN PROPOSAL ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001178

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2014
TAGS: PREL PARM PBTS MD FR OSCE
SUBJECT: FRENCH HAVE NOT RECEIVED RUSSIAN PROPOSAL ON
TRANSNISTRIA

REF: STATE 28476

Classified By: POLITICAL MINISTER COUNSELOR JOSIAH ROSENBLATT, FOR REAS
ONS 1.4 B/D

(C) On February 23, Poloff spoke with Pierre Cochard, the
MFA's DAS-equivalent for Russia and the former Soviet space,
to determine whether the GOF had received a Russian demarche
in support of bilateral consultations on Transnistria
(reftel). Cochard said he was aware of the Russian demarche
in Washington from the French Embassy, and confirmed that no
one in the French government, including the MFA and
intelligence services, had received anything along those
lines from the Russian Government. In the event that the
Russians did demarche the French on bilateral consultations,
Cochard speculated that the GOF wouldn't refuse, given the
current lack of dialogue on Transnistria. Nevertheless,
Cochard said the GOF's clear, long-term preference was for
consultations on Transnistria to be multilateral.
Wolff