1540: RUSSIA BLOCKS ADOPTION OF WORK PROGRAM

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 001428

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR IO/UNP:EBROWN AND ISN/CPI:TWUCHTE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/2011
TAGS: PREL PTER PARM UNSC AORC KNNP
SUBJECT: 1540: RUSSIA BLOCKS ADOPTION OF WORK PROGRAM

REF: STATE 114027

Classified By: Ambassador Jackie W. Sanders, Alternate Representative f
or Special Political Affairs, for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (U) Summary: The Security Council Committee established
pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004) met informally July 27 to
discuss the status of reporting, outreach activities, and the
adoption of a new 12-month program. After no delegation
commented on the draft work program during the informal
meeting, which the UK prepared after consultations among the
P-5, the Chairman convened a formal meeting for the Committee
to adopt it. The Russian delegation's eleventh-hour
amendments then blocked adoption of the program, to the
frustration of other delegations. After extensive debate,
the Committee adopted operative paras 5 and 6 of resolution
1673 (2006) as its provisional program of work through August
31, 2006. End Summary.

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Status of Reporting and Outreach Activities
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2. (U) Committee Chairman and Slovak PermRep Peter Burian
announced that Bangladesh, Eritrea, and Honduras had
submitted first reports on their implementation of resolution
1540 (2004). Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Jordan, Monaco, Lebanon,
Peru, Saudi Arabia, Namibia, Oman, and Paraguay have
submitted second reports.


3. (U) The Chairman reported positively on the regional
outreach seminar in Beijing on 1540 implementation sponsored
July 12-13. The seminar, which the Chinese government and
the Department of Disarmament Affairs (DDA) sponsored, was
the first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region. The
seminar provided a forum for discussing finance control,
securing WMD equipment and means of delivery, sharing lessons
learned, and developing non-proliferation strategies.
Representatives of 70 countries attended. (Note: Peru and
Ghana both are planning similar seminars, together with DDA.
On the margins of the meeting, the Peruvian delegation said
they had not received Peru's proposal from Lima but would
provide it to USUN once it arrived. End Comment.)


4. (U) The Chair also reported positively on his meeting
with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
Forum for Cooperation (OSCE/FSC) in Vienna on July 5.
Chairman Burian made a presentation at the OSCE/FSC and
discussed the 1540 Committee's goal of providing guidance to
states to extend the reach of resolution 1540, establish a
best practices tool, and develop strategies for
implementation. The Chair said he hoped the Committee could
use the OSCE to promote the importance and awareness of 1540,
and USUN briefed the Committee on the U.S., Greek, Danish,
and Spanish proposal for the OSCE to host a workshop on 1540
implementation in 2006.

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Russia Blocks Adoption of Program
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5. (U) After no delegations commented on the UK-drafted work
program during the informal meeting, Chairman Burian accepted
UKUN's proposal that he call a formal meeting for the
Committee to adopt it. (Note: The Russian delegation's
usual 1540 expert was absent during the informal meeting, but
appeared at the formal meeting. End Note.) At the outset of
the formal meeting, the Russian delegation presented several
proposed amendments to the draft program, focusing primarily
on removing all reference to the committee's "analysis" of
information received. The Russian delegation said its
proposals aimed to prevent the Committee from making
"political decisions" about states' implementation that might
have "far-reaching ramifications." He also argued that UNSCR
1673 mandates the Committee only to "compile" information -
not assess states' implementation. The Chinese delegation
supported Russia's amendments.


7. (U) Argentina, UKUN, and the United States expressed
disappointment at the Russian delegation's last-minute
changes. USUN delivered points on U.S. objectives for the
Committee's work program per reftel. Argentina recalled that
at the October 2005 seminar on 1540 implementation in Buenos
Aires, Latin American and Caribbean states had asked the
Committee to make recommendations on priorities states should
establish for implementing UNSCR 1540. Argentina said the
Committee could not do so without engaging in analysis. UKUN
said the Committee could not report to the Security Council
in 2008 on states' compliance with UNSCR 1540, as UNSCR 1673
requires, without analyzing information from reporting
states. UKUN, Argentina, and Tanzania also expressed their
increasing concerns about the Committee's delays in adopting

a program of work, particularly since the Chairman and many
other delegations would be away in August.


8. (U) After extensive debate, the Committee agreed to rely
provisionally on operative paras 5 and 6 of UNSCR 1673 to
guide its work through August 31. (Note: Both paragraphs
set forth the elements of the Committee's work program. End
Note.)


9. (C) Comment: Russia's objections were predictable but
unfortunate. Both in the negotiations of the Committee's
April 2006 report to the Council and in the negotiations of
UNSCR 1673, Russia expressed concerns about having the
Committee press states to comply with UNSCR 1540. Russia
insisted repeatedly that UNSCR 1540 applies only to
preventing terrorists from gaining access to weapons of mass
destruction. Before the meeting, Ionut Suseanu, the Romanian
member of the experts' team (please protect),warned USUN
that the Russian member of the experts' team (Victor
Slipchenko) had opposed aspects of the program that would
make the Committee's role more robust (and require the
experts to do more). According to Suseanu, Slipchenko
intervened both with the Russian Mission and with the Russian
Foreign Ministry at the highest levels, providing the same
instructions the Russian expert delivered. Slipchenko also
opposed any language in the work program to focus the
Committee on states' compliance with resolution 1540.
Slipchenko has acted repeatedly through the Russian Mission
to block U.S. initiatives and objectives for the 1540
Committee. End Comment.


10. (U) On July 28, the Russian expert phoned USUN to say
Russia's interventions "were not a sign of any intention to
freeze the work of the Committee." He stressed his
willingness to work to develop alternative language that
would address Russia's concerns about politicizing the
Committee's work. He said he would brief Moscow but pressed
USUN on whether the U.S. would make new proposals. USUN said
the U.S. had made its views clear and viewed the UK draft as
an acceptable compromise text. The Russian expert then
emphasized again Russia's view that UNSCR 1540 applies only
to preventing terrorists from gaining access to weapons of
mass destruction and that the Committee should not attempt to
use resolution 1540 against state action. "Resolution 1540
is not about North Korea and Iran," he said. USUN also
stressed the U.S. view that resolution 1540 imposes
obligations to counter proliferation by and to state and
non-state actors.


11. (U) Mission recommends that Department consider
demarching Moscow and Beijing to appeal for better Russian
and Chinese cooperation with U.S. objectives. Securing
Russian support is crucial; the Chinese will not block
consensus on issues Russia can accept.
BOLTON