UKRAINE/MOLDOVA/TRANSNISTRIA: YUSHCHENKO ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIEV 001135 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2016 TAGS: PREL PBTS PHUM PINR OSCE SUBJECT: UKRAINE/MOLDOVA/TRANSNISTRIA: YUSHCHENKO ON RUSSIAN "HUMANITARIAN" SHIPMENTS; DEMARCHES DELIVERED Classified By: Ambassador for reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) In a March 23 meeting, President Yushchenko told Ambassador that the Ukrainian government had learned March 21 that Russia planned to ship humanitarian assistance to the Transnistrians. He had spoken to Russian Ambassador Chernomyrdin and said the Russian shipment was an unfriendly act because the Kremlin wanted to bring the shipments into Ukraine at the farthest point from Transnistria, in Kharkiv. Yushchenko said the shipment could go forward, but only on condition that it enter Ukraine at Sumy and transit at night. Chernomyrdin had agreed. Yushchenko commented the night transit would minimize the possibility that Ne Tak bloc, Party of Regions, or other opposition elements could capitalize on the shipment to attack the government's approach to Transnistria. The shipment would probably occur on the night of March 23. ¶2. (C) Commenting on the lack of any basis for humanitarian shipments, Yushchenko said, in the last three days, Transnistria had received shipments of meat at a volume sufficient to provide every resident with two kilograms each. The Transnistrian authority had stopped 190 railroad freight cars from entering, while Ukrainian customs had stopped only 19 cars that lacked the appropriate Moldovan customs seals. ¶3. (U) Note: Interfax reported later on March 23 that Russia had agreed, according to Russian Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu, to change its route. Based on a memo from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Shoigu said the Russian convoy would pass through Kiev instead of Kharkiv. The trucks also should not carry "any symbols of propaganda," travel at night, and do so within 12 hours. ¶4. (U) Note: We also conveyed ref a and b points (on Russian humanitarian aid and a GOU Transnistria-related customs proposal, respectively) to MFA Second Territorial Department Deputy Director Ihor Prokopchuk and Special Envoy for Transnistrian Affairs Dmytro Tkach. ¶5. (U) Visit Embassy Kiev's classified website: www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev. Herbst