DFM KARASIN ON UPCOMING RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 009415 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/28/2016 TAGS: PREL MD UP BO RS SUBJECT: DFM KARASIN ON UPCOMING RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS IN THE CIS Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns. Reason 1.4 (b, d) ¶1. (C) Summary: After DFM Karasin briefed Friends of Georgia Chiefs of Mission August 28 (Septel),he met with Ambassador Burns bilaterally. They discussed upcoming travel and visits. Karasin favors an end October-early November date for his own meetings in Washington. Karasin briefed on Russian diplomatic activity with Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus. End Summary. Visits -------------- ¶2. (C) Following up on the preceding session with the Friends of Georgia, Karasin noted that DFM Denisov will soon visit Tbilisi to pay a courtesy call on his new opposite number DFM Chechelashvili. Karasin said he may visit Tbilisi in September or October. Karasin expects to visit Almaty in mid-September for a meeting of Russia's ambassadors in Central Asia, and may also visit Astana and/or Bishkek for talks with government officials. Karasin said he might also visit Chisinau in late September. ¶3. (C) Ambassador said Washington is eager to schedule a Karasin visit, and Karasin said the very end of October or first days of November looked good, if convenient for Washington. Moldova -------------- ¶4. (C) After Karasin inquiries on Lebanon and Iran, the Ambassador asked about the August 8 visit of Moldovan President Voronin. Karasin replied that Putin was happier with this last visit than with previous ones. Putin wants to make the bilateral relationship more transparent. On Transnistria, there is some movement on papers and exchanges of ideas, though none of them are very new. Ambassadors Kenyaikin and Nesterushkin were leaving for Chisinau that day to consult on what new movement could produce on Transnistria in working with Moldova and Ukraine. ¶5. (C) Karasin said he was not sure why his European and American colleagues were so nervous about the planned September 17 referendum in Transnistria. It was no more or less than a plebiscite for Smirnov. The "general scenery" would be no different September 18. Voronin had not been much concerned with it when he visited. "Life will go on," Karasin said. ¶6. (C) Karasin stressed that in all the conflicts (Comment: i.e., Abkhazia, about which he had just been talking to the Friends, and South Ossetia. End comment) Russia wanted to make the sides understand and trust one another. Russia was just there to assist and put the sides together; but the sides themselves had to decide their own future. Thus, he added, all ideas to enlarge the circle of negotiations (read: include more Western participants) were "only an imitation of activity" that could decide nothing. Ambassador responded that if there were actual progress in the negotiations, there would be less temptation for others to get involved. Ukraine -------------- ¶7. (C) Karasin responded to the Ambassador's question on Ukraine by calling the new PM's visit "productive." Yanukovich had asked down-to-earth, practical questions, though the answers were not always what he wanted to hear. The Bilateral Commission planned to pull all the subcommittees together in September and October to facilitate a meeting of the Economic Committee, headed by the Prime Ministers, by the end of the year. No decision has yet been taken on whether Putin will head the Russian delegation to the Babi Yar commemorations in Ukraine. Belarus -------------- ¶8. (C) Karasin said there was little new on Belarus. Russia continues to insist on bringing market prices to the energy sector. There might be exceptions from time to time, but the logic was there. The Union Treaty was not on the immediate agenda, though perhaps there might be some discussion on the "joint government" in October. BURNS