GEORGIAN PERMREP ASKS FOR HIGH-LEVEL U.S.

C O N F I D E N T I A L GENEVA 002614 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR IO/RHS, DRL/MLA, L/HRR E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/13/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV MOPS GG AM RS SUBJECT: GEORGIAN PERMREP ASKS FOR HIGH-LEVEL U.S. INTERVENTION WITH RUSSIA REF: A. OCT.12 BRINK-SMELLER E-MAIL ¶B. OCT.12 TRAUB-BRINK-SMELLER E-MAIL Classified By: Political Counselor Velia De Pirro for reasons E.O. 12958, 1.4 (b)(d) ¶1. (C) Georgian PermRep Levan Mikeladze and Political Counselor Valerian Katamadze met with Ambassador Tichenor Oct. 13 to request U.S. intervention on behalf of Georgia in response to Russia's retaliation against Georgia following the arrest and later expulsion of four Russian military officers accused of espionage. Mikeladze said Russia's disproportionate response revealed its historical animosity toward people of the Caucasus. He presented the Ambassador with a non-paper (e-mailed to Washington and Tbilisi) outlining recent Russian actions against Georgia. He was confident that if the United States were to raise the issue with Russia directly during high-level bilateral discussions it would help alleviate some of Georgia's problems. Sanctions, including land and maritime transportation blockades, also severely affected "Russia's best friend in the Caucasus," Armenia, which must now use land routes in and out of Iran to transport goods. ¶2. (C) Following guidance from Embassy Tbilisi and USMIS-OSCE (see ref e-mails),Ambassador Tichenor commended Georgia on its measured and calm response to Russia's actions. He stressed the need to continue broad and inclusive discussions on Abkhazia and South Ossetia with all parties, adding it was in everyone's best interest that tensions between Russia and Georgia not escalate any further. Mikeladze accused Russia of increasing its spying activities and mentioned recent arrests of Russian spies in Estonia and Nigeria as proof. While he doubted Russia would attack Georgia militarily, he said doing it through proxies in Abkhazia and South Ossetia was a real possibility. Although the outspoken nature of Georgian President Saakashvili and Georgia's desire to join NATO greatly irritated Moscow, using severe sanctions against Georgia would not help to bring it any closer to Russia. It was, in fact, having the opposite effect, Mikeladze said. Georgia plans to introduce a resolution against Russian bigotry and racism at the Nov. 27-Dec. 8 Human Rights Council session. ¶3. (C) COMMENT: This was the second meeting in one month between Mikeladze and the Ambassador. The Georgian PermRep said that Georgia was having a difficult time and needed to turn to its "best friend" for help, but it was unclear whether this initiative came from the capital or Mikeladze himself. While relations with Russia seem to be at an all-time low, introducing a resolution on Russia at the next Human Rights Council will certainly not help to improve the situation. Post requests guidance on what our position would be concerning a possible Georgian resolution on Russia. END COMMENT. TICHENOR