MFA UNHAPPY WITH PALESTINIAN RESOLUTION ON UN

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 012781 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/04/2016 TAGS: PREL UNGA IS RS SUBJECT: MFA UNHAPPY WITH PALESTINIAN RESOLUTION ON UN REGISTER OF DAMAGES REF: STATE 193698 Classified By: Political M/C Alice G. Wells. Reasons: 1.4(B/D). ¶1. (C) We discussed reftel talking points on the 10th UNGA Emergency Special Session with Vladimir Safronkov, Chief of the UN Political Affairs Section in the MFA's International Organizations Department. Safronkov said that the MFA had already instructed its mission in New York to push for changes in the Palestinian draft resolution on the UN Register of Damages to ensure it was in line with the UN Secretary General's report. Russia could not support the SIPDIS resolution in its current form. Safronkov said bluntly that the resolution was a "clumsy and stupid" attempt to seek political support that ignored the careful work done by the UN Secretariat over the past two years. He said the Palestinians seemed to be either unaware of or were being careless about the legal implications for final status issues by pushing efforts to secure compensation. ¶2. (C) On tactics, Safronkov said that in addition to working with the Palestinian representative in New York, the GOR was reaching out to the Palestinian Authority to make sure that the New York representative was "properly instructed." He noted that the Europeans were also working with the Palestinians on the issue to seek changes. He welcomed discussions with the U.S. in New York about next steps, but noted that Russia's goal was a resolution it could support. BURNS