DEMARCHE DELIVERED: UNIFIED APPROACH TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L HELSINKI 001193 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2016 TAGS: PREL EUN NATO OSCE MO GG RU SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: UNIFIED APPROACH TO GEORGIA/MOLDOVA CONFLICTS REF: SECSTATE 190264 Classified By: POLCHIEF Gregory Thome for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (SBU) On 29 November, DCM delivered demarche to Finnish Foreign Ministry Political Director Pilvi-Sisko Vierros Villeneuve. Vierros Villeneuve welcomed US points on Georgia and agreed that maintaining US-EU unity is crucial. ¶2. (C) On Moldova, Vierros Villeneuve also fully agreed on the need for the US and the EU to remain united, the importance of returning to the 5-2 process, and getting the Transnistrians back to the table. However, regarding an international Peace Consolidation Mission, Vierros Villeneuve emphasized that the EU has reached no common position on this and, indeed, has not even been offered the opportunity to do so. Referencing her recent telecon with EUR DAS David Kramer, she explained that the Belgian OSCE chairmanship has yet to present its draft statement on the PCM to the EU for comment, and there can be no unified EU position until this takes place. Without having officially seen this proposal, Vierros Villeneuve expressed concern that a tactical approach toward internationalizing the Moldovan peacekeeping force (PKF) would not be credible unless the EU was immediately ready to step forward with its replacement force; however, it is not ready at this time due to difficulty generating troops and a lack of member state concensus. Finland remains committed to the Hill paper and is not convinced that internationalizing the PKF will trigger settlement and instead believes it should be part of an overall settlement process. ¶3. (C) Although the EU has not reached consensus and the Belgian OSCE Chair has not yet formally circulated its proposals, Vierros Villeneuve expressed some guarded optimism, saying that "the gap is closing." However, she also reiterated the US point regarding the importance of showing US-EU unity -- especially to the Russians. While Europe is in the process of coming to consensus, she urged, "let's not show to Russia that there is any US-EU disagreement." WARE