Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06USUNNEWYORK1595
2006-08-21 18:50:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
USUN New York
Cable title:  

MEETING OF MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS WITH AZERI

Tags:  PREL PGOV UNGA AJ AM 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0022
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #1595/01 2331850
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211850Z AUG 06
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHKB/AMEMBASSY BAKU 0132
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0889
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0974
RUEHYE/AMEMBASSY YEREVAN 0108
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1648
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9924
UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001595 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV UNGA AJ AM
SUBJECT: MEETING OF MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS WITH AZERI
PERMREP ON DRAFT RESOLUTION

REF: SECSTATE 132341

Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly.

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001595

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV UNGA AJ AM
SUBJECT: MEETING OF MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS WITH AZERI
PERMREP ON DRAFT RESOLUTION

REF: SECSTATE 132341

Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly.


1. (SBU) Summary. Minsk Group Co-chair reps met with Azeri
PermRep Aliyev August 18 to discuss the Azeri draft GA
resolution regarding the fires that have been raging since
June in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Ambassador
Wolff delivered reftel points, which were endorsed by the
other Co-chairs. Aliyev agreed with the need for a
constructive and inclusive initiative, but expressed
frustration with the lack of response from the Secretariat to
requests for assistance made by his government. End Summary.


2. (SBU) U.S., Russian, and French Mission reps met with
Azeri PR Aliyev at his request to discuss Azerbaijan,s
appeal to present their draft resolution on the fires in
Nagorno-Karabakh to the General Assembly for adoption.
French DPR LaCroix and Russian DPR Shcherbak agreed with the
negative U.S. reaction to the resolution, presented by
Ambassador Wolff (reftel).


3. (SBU) Aliyev confirmed that he has already met
bilaterally with both the U.S. and Russian reps. He
questioned the conclusions drawn by the OSCE fact-finding
mission, claiming that no ecology expert had participated in
the mission, and remarked that the fires are almost
exclusively along the Line of Contact and are continuing to
spread. In the midst of this negative situation, Aliyev sees
&a small light for breakthrough8 in the form of
international assistance by UNEP and various European
agencies, in particular OSCE. He said that the most
significant part of the OSCE mission,s report was the call
for international assistance and stressed that an
environmental operation with the participation of all
concerned parties would be &ideal.8 Aliyev then
distributed a letter from the government of Armenia
expressing willingness to cooperate with Azerbaijan in
environmental operations.


4. (SBU) The Co-chairs expressed a shared concern over
Azerbaijan,s decision to table a draft resolution that does
not reflect the government,s ongoing promises of
cooperation. LaCroix stressed the need to work within the
framework of OSCE and focus on practical firefighting
methods, putting aside the draft resolution, as it does not
tackle the issue in a concrete manner. Shcherbak also
emphasized the need for practical assistance, perhaps modeled
after the current CIS peacekeeping force in Georgia. Amb.
Wolff, backed by LaCroix and Shcherbak, underlined that the
U.S. cannot support the resolution on account of its overly
aggressive and accusatory content. Amb. Wolff also noted
that circulating the resolution might discourage UNEP and
other international actors from addressing the environmental
situation, as they would be reluctant to engage in a
politically charged issue.


5. (SBU) Aliyev defended the actions taken by the Azeri
government by claiming that the UN and OSCE have applied a
&double standard8 to the Nagorno-Karabakh fires. According
to Aliyev, the Azeri Foreign Minister sent a letter on July
25 to the OSCE Chairman-in-Office requesting assistance in
combating the fires and sent a similar letter on July 28 to
the Executive Director of UNEP. Furthermore, Aliyev claimed
that on July 28 he had presented to Assistant SYG Angela Kane
a request by the Azeri PM for SYG assistance. Aliyev alleged
that he was still awaiting replies from all three, calling
the lack of response &an additional burden.8 He then
called to the Co-Chairs, attention an address made to the
Security Council by the Charge d,Affaires of the Lebanese
Mission to the UN on June 26, requesting UN assistance in
cleaning up the oil spills caused by aerial bombing. Aliyev
claimed that by August 4, UNEP and OCHA had already
investigated the environmental situation and returned with a
coordinated response, thereby implying that the UN does not
attach the same gravity to the environmental crisis in his
region as it does to Lebanon,s (Note: According to UNEP,s
website, the first update from the joint UNEP/OCHA mission in
Lebanon is dated July 27; the second update is dated August

4. End Note). The meeting ended without a promise by Aliyev
to freeze the draft resolution, since he needed to report
back to capital for guidance on this point. Amb. Wolff
likewise assured Aliyev that we would urge the Secretariat to
respond in a timely manner to Azerbaijan,s requests.


6. (SBU) Comment: Aliyev,s approach was much less
aggressive than that he exhibited in prior conversations on

the subject with the U.S. and Russian missions, respectively.
His lengthy description of efforts to secure Secretariat
attention to Azerbaijan,s requests suggest that the draft
resolution, with its aggressive tone, may have been designed
in large part to get our collective attention - and to use
the Co-chair Missions to press the UN, OSCE, and others to
pay attention to Azerbaijan,s appeals.
BOLTON