SENATOR HAGEL'S VISIT TO YEREVAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 001020

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN, EUR/SNEC, H

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/10/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PARM AM AJ GG RU
SUBJECT: SENATOR HAGEL'S VISIT TO YEREVAN

REF: A) YEREVAN 900 B) STATE 99856 (NODIS)

Classified By: Amb. John Evans for reasons 1.4 (b, d).

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) In a brief stop as part of a larger trip to the
region, Senator Chuck Hagel, along with EUCOM Deputy
Commander Charles Wald and other DOD personnel, visited
Yerevan June 2-3. During his visit the Senator discussed
regional stability, military cooperation as well as progress
on economic and democratic reforms with President Kocharian
and Minister of Defense Sargsian and visited Armenia's
fledgling peacekeeping battalion. End Summary.

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SENATOR NOTES ARMENIA'S CONTRIBUTIONS
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2. (C) Senator Hagel's first stop was to Armenia's
peacekeeping battalion. While this unit is a battalion on
paper, it in fact consists of only about 200 troops.
Nonetheless, this is the unit from which Armenia's
contingents to Iraq and Kosovo are drawn. Senator Hagel
thanked Armenia for its contribution to these critical
multilateral operations. In follow-on meetings, the Senator
thanked President Kocharian and Minister of Defense Sergsian
for their roles in moving the U.S.-Armenia defense
relationship forward. The President cited recent
developments in the Defense Assessment as indicative of the
improved relationship, and Minister Sargsian touted the
soon-to-be-presented NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan
(IPAP) as strong evidence of Armenia's closer defense
relationship with the U.S. and NATO.

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REGIONAL SECURITY: NAGORNO-KARABAKH
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3. (C) Reporting a generally positive view of the current
discussions on Nagorno-Karabakh (N-K),and reiterating
Armenia's fundamental positions as previously reported (ref
B),President Kocharian noted that although he had thought
the process was at an impasse, his latest meeting with
Azerbaijani President Aliyev had had "some encouraging
elements." The President outlined for the Senator and
General Wald the state of play (ref B) and claimed, "The
negotiation process is going in a good direction."

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REGIONAL SECURITY: RUSSIAN BASES AND GEORGIA
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4. (C) Both President Kocharian and Minister of Defense
Sargsian emphasized that Russia already had bases in Armenia,
and that moving equipment from its current bases in Georgia
to its bases in Armenia required no new agreements, and fit
easily within current agreements. In fact, Kocharian noted
that moving Russian materiel from Georgia to Armenia was "not
a major issue for us," and underlined the fact that having
the equipment in Armenia made it easier for Russia to meet
its CFE commitments. Kocharian also claimed that a major
Russian concern was that Armenia might be next in line to
demand closure of its Russian bases; as he noted, "It was
important to help solve this" impasse. Claiming that he
didn't understand reported Azerbaijani concerns about
relocating the Russian military equipment to Armenia,
Kocharian noted that, "We never made a big issue of their
weapons acquisitions," and continued to assert that
Azerbaijan had acquired artillery from Russia roughly seven
months ago and that they had also purchased weaponry from
Ukraine. "It's their business, not ours," Kocharian insisted.

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REGIONAL SECURITY: IRAN
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5. (C) President Kocharian told the Senator that, although
Armenia wants closer relations with NATO, Armenia will move
more slowly than its neighbors "because of Iran." At the end
of the day, President Kocharian noted, "Relations with Iran
are more important for us than for our neighbors." Minister
of Defense Sargsian commented, however, that military
relations between Iran and Armenia were practically
non-existent.

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DEMOCRATIC AND CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS
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6. (C) The Senator raised the issue of Armenia's need to
continue its democratic reforms and noted that, "As you
develop your democratic institutions, we stand with you."
President Kocharian explained that the GOAM is completing
work on constitutional reforms (in line with its Council of
Europe (CoE) obligations) and hoped to put the amendments to
a referendum in the fall. Kocharian claimed that the
"current constitution does not hold us back, however,"
claiming that although he has de jure power to dissolve the
National Assembly or to remove boycotting opposition
parliamentarians he would never do that and "no one has ever
used this power." Kocharian acknowledged that the two major
outstanding issues for constitutional reform were properly
guaranteeing human rights and reforming the judiciary. He
noted that Armenia had already signed and ratified all
conventions that were needed by the CoE, and outlined some of
the difficulties that he anticipates in getting even a good
set of constitutional amendments through a referendum -- the
threshold was so high, he said, that it is very hard to pass
a referendum, and very easy to block one. He hoped to ensure
a better turnout for the referendum by scheduling it with
local elections in the fall.

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COMMENT: GOAM-US SECURITY RELATIONSHIP GROWING, SLOWLY
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7. (C) If even one year ago Foreign Minister Oskanian was
candidly admitting that the GOAM gave Russia a de facto veto
on matters involving NATO and closer military cooperation
with the U.S., over the course of the past year the
U.S.-Armenia security relationship has grown dramatically
(ref A). In 2004 Armenia sent a platoon of peacekeepters to
Kosovo with a Greek battalion and in January of this year
sent a non-combatant contingent to Iraq. Armenia also
ratified the NATO Partnership for Peace Status of Forces
Agreement, concluded an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing
Agreement (ACSA) with the U.S, ratified an Article 98
Agreement, begun a defense assessment, and is finishing an
Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with NATO that it
plans to present in Brussels in mid-June. Our security
relationship is expanding, and we are actively working to
help Armenia develop a constructive security posture in the
region.


8. (U) Senator Hagel has cleared on this message.
EVANS