GOF SAYS RUSSIA-FRANCE-GERMANY-SPAIN MARCH 18

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001883

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2015
TAGS: PGOV PINR RS FR EUN
SUBJECT: GOF SAYS RUSSIA-FRANCE-GERMANY-SPAIN MARCH 18
MEETING FOCUSED ON EU-RUSSIA RELATIONS

REF: A. BERLIN 795


B. PARIS 1573

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


1. (C) Summary: Laurent Bili, President Chirac's technical
advisor on pol/mil and Russia issues, told POL M/C March 21
that the meeting between the Russian, French, German and
Spanish leaders on March 18 focused primarily on EU-Russia
relations, with the goal of concluding negotiations on the
"Four Spaces" of cooperation before the May 10 EU-Russia
summit. Unnamed "French government" sources backgrounded the
same theme in articles to local press before the summit.
Bili said more sensitive issues - Russian domestic politics
and Chechnya, among others - were not "taboo," but were only
raised in bilateral discussions. Given Russia's importance
in Europe, said Bili, the GOF focused on "finding the
positive" and not airing disagreements in public. As an
aside, Bili bemoaned a mutual "dialogue of the deaf" between
the US and the EU on the China arms embargo issue. End
summary.

THE MARCH 18 SUMMIT: FOCUSED ON EU-RUSSIA RELATIONS


2. (C) Putin arrived in the morning of March 18 and began his
day with a series of bilateral consultations with President
Chirac, said Bili. Among the issues discussed were Russia's
internal drift towards authoritarianism, (although "not in
those terms," said Bili) and Chechnya. Bili said there were
no "taboo" issues between Chirac and Putin, although the GOF
noticed Putin had been more amenable to discussions about
Russian domestic issues in 2003 and early 2004. Still, Bili
acknowledged that the raising of these types of issues was
confined to private discussions between the two presidents,
and did not enter into the discussions among the four leaders
in the evening. The only public admission that France had
raised Russian domestic issues, said Bili, was Chirac's
noting during a press conference that all issues, even the
most difficult, were evoked.


3. (C) POL M/C asked Bili about the format of the meeting and
whether France thought this type of arrangement would
continue. Bili said France saw the utility of "groupings of
variable geometry." The most important aspect of these
groupings, he asserted, was that there be a French presence,
especially if EU members were involved. Spain had been
invited, said Bili, because the Russians had requested that
they be included. When asked later if Spain had added any
particular points of view to the discussion, Bili noted only
that the Spanish government represented 40 million people.
(Comment: Ref A reports that Spain had asked Germany and
France to be included, while ref B reports a French MFA
official saying the inclusion of Spain probably originated
with Chirac himself. The one common theme in these
discrepant reports is France's "decision" to accept Spanish
participation, thus demonstrating, in French eyes, their
preeminent role. End comment.) Bili also acknowledged a GOF
concern that the March 18 meeting be seen as a continuation
of the anti-Iraq Germany-France-Russia meetings, but he said
the GOF had worked to convince the French media that the
meeting was focused primarily on EU-Russia issues. Bili
expressed satisfaction with subsequent local media coverage
that he said emphasized the EU-Russia angle.


4. (C) Regarding EU-Russia relations, Bili described the
"Four Spaces" as more important in the short-term for the EU,
and more important in the long-term for Russia. He confirmed
ref B reporting that the two most difficult "spaces" remained
external relations (e.g., Russia's near-abroad and the EU's
New Neighbor policies) and justice/internal issues, among
which liberalization of visa regimes remained difficult at
the EU-Russia level. Informal summits like March 18 were
important to lay the groundwork for formal summits like May
10, said Bili. France believed more personal contacts and
dialogue were of great importance when dealing with Russia.
(Comment: This also works well for the French. They focus
their bilateral relationship with Russia on intimate dialogue
and reap commercial and diplomatic benefits. When tough
messages must be passed, they punt to the EU. End comment.)
When asked if the GOF anticipated future meetings in such a
format, Bili said yes.

IRAN AND LEBANON AMONG INTERNATIONAL ISSUES DISCUSSED


5. (C) Bili told POL M/C that the four leaders discussed the
full range of international issues, including Ukraine,
Kosovo, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Iran and Iraq.
Putin supported the French position on Ukraine, said Bili;
i.e., full support of Ukraine's political and economic
development. On Kosovo, all sides agreed on the necessity of
dialogue with the Contact Group, but final status issues were
not discussed. Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian peace
process, Putin (and France, Bili acknowledged) were now more
positive regarding the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. On
Iran, Bili said Russia was quite clear that possession by
Iran of nuclear weapons was out of the question. Russia
aligned itself with the French position on Iraq, said Bili,
and emphasized the importance of Iraq's development of its
domestic political structures.


6. (C) Lebanon and Syria were discussed bilaterally, said
Bili. France would have preferred that the French-Russian
press statement refer to Syria's "immediate withdrawal"
instead of "rapid withdrawal," although the GOF was in the
end satisfied with the statement, believing the Russians had
been as forward leaning as possible despite vestiges of
clientitis towards Syria.


7. (C) As an aside to the brief on the March 18 meeting, Bili
and POL M/C raised the China arms embargo. Bili believed
that the USG and EU had "three to four months" to resolve
their differences before the EU would push ahead with a
lifting of the embargo (Comment: straddling the end of the
Luxembourg Presidency). He said both the EU and the US were
guilty of talking past each other, and of not adequately
responding to the other's concerns. Now that the issue was
being played out in the media, said Bili, it would be
difficult for each side to reexamine its position. The
office of the French Presidency should have been more aware
of the need to explain France's position, said Bili.
Leach