UKRAINE: YEMENI ARMS BROKERS SEEKING

S E C R E T KIEV 002453 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT ALSO FOR ISN/CATR, EUR/UMB, EUR/PRA, AND NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/22/2016 TAGS: ETTC PARM PREL YM UP SUBJECT: UKRAINE: YEMENI ARMS BROKERS SEEKING WEAPONS/AMMUNITION - DEMARCHE DELIVERED REF: STATE 99121 Classified By: Acting Political Counselor George Kent for reasons 1.4(b ,c,d) ¶1. (S) We delivered reftel's talking points with information on Yemeni arms brokers efforts to obtain weapons and ammunition June 22 to MFA Arms Control and Military Technical Cooperation Counselor Serhiy Kucherenko. Kucherenko said he would relay the information to other Ukrainian government offices for follow-up, but expressed puzzlement over the identity of "Immersion Hi Tech Ltd," which he would need to translate into Ukrainian or transcribe into Cyrillic letters when forwarding the information. Noting that Ukrainian companies dealing in arms sales must register with the government, Kucherenko said he had not encountered the company's name before and speculated that the company might be a foreign firm operating in Ukraine. ¶2. (U) Visit Embassy Kiev's classified website: www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev. Gwaltney