UKRAINE OPPOSES POSSIBLE NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TEST

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIEV 003884 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR ISN, EUR, AND EAP E.O. 12958: DECL: AFTER KOREAN UNIFICATION TAGS: PREL PARM KNNP KN UP SUBJECT: UKRAINE OPPOSES POSSIBLE NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TEST REF: STATE 166404 Classified By: Political Counselor Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4(b,d) ¶1. (C) On October 5, Ambassador passed reftel points on the USG position regarding a possible North Korean nuclear test to Presidential Deputy Chief of Staff for Foreign Policy Oleksandr Chaliy. Ambassador praised the October 4 MFA statement (see para 2) regarding a possible North Korean nuclear test and advised Chaliy that the non-paper was provided for Chaliy's background. Chaliy echoed the point in the Ukrainian MFA statement that Ukraine has a special moral position on nuclear non-proliferation as a country that had once voluntarily given up its nuclear arsenal and acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. He had no doubt that the Ukrainian government position was completely consistent with USG views. Later on October 5, visiting EUR DAS Kramer and Polcouns conveyed the points to Deputy FM Andriy Veselovskiy. We also transmitted the points to MFA U.S. and Canada desk acting chief Yuriy Nykytiuk. Our MFA contacts expressed appreciation for our strong stand and also drew our attention to the October 4 MFA statement. ¶2. (U) The following is an unofficial translation of the MFA statement: Begin text. On October 3, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Koreda (DPRK) announced the intention of the country to conduct nuclear tests. This DPRK decision raises special concern in Ukraine, which some time ago became a nuclear free state by voluntarily giving up its powerful nuclear arsenal, the third largest in the world, for the sake of decreasing nuclear confrontation and in the interests of global security. As a party to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, Ukraine urges respect of nuclear non-proliferation principles and stresses the unacceptability of a violation of the existing nuclear test moratorium. We urge DPRK to realize all possible consequences of its decision to conduct nuclear tests which can lead to unforeseen consequences and negatively affect the stability of the international nuclear non-proliferation system. We ask all parties involved in negotiations with DPRK to put maximum efforts into avoiding aggravation of the situation and peaceful resolution of the issue by political and diplomatic means in accordance with basic international law principles. End text. ¶3. (U) Visit Embassy Kiev's classified website: www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev. Taylor