AZERBAIJANI DFM AZIMOV SAYS "DON'T FORGET US" ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 001383

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL AJ IR MARR MNUC PARM RS
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJANI DFM AZIMOV SAYS "DON'T FORGET US" ON
GABALA

REF: A. BAKU 1382

B. BAKU 1356

Classified By: Ambassador Anne E. Derse for reasons 1.4 (b, d)


1. (C) Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister (DFM) Araz Azimov
and Ambassador Derse met November
12 to discuss several security-related issues (septel).
Azimov asked the Ambassador for an update on the 2-plus-2
talks between the United States and Russia, with a particular
interest in missile defense. Ambassador provided Azimov a
copy the non-paper readout on 2-plus-2 talks which took place
in Moscow on October 12-13, and which had been passed to
Foreign Minister Mammadyarov previously. The Ambassador
noted that U.S. is waiting for Moscow's reaction to our
proposals on missile defense.


2. (C) Azimov thanked the Ambassador for the readout and
asked that the USG continue to keep Azerbaijan informed of
developments. He specifically noted that should plans to use
Gabala go forward, Azerbaijan will need to be a part of the
regional missile defense architecture and a "consumer" of the
radar data that the Gabala station would provide. He said
that the fact that Gabala is on Azerbaijani territory makes
Azerbaijan a target. He emphasized that for Azerbaijan the
issues of physical security around Gabala and (unspecified)
security assurances would need to be taken into consideration
in the 2-plus-2 discussions. The Ambassador assured Azimov
that the U.S. would move forward as "full partners" with
Azerbaijan and that Azerbaijan's security would be
considered, as EUR A/S Fried told President Aliyev in early
November (reftel). It was clear that Azimov had neither been
provided a readout on 2-plus-2 which we had provided to
Mammadyarov or on A/S Fried's discussions with President
Aliyev on security assurances.


3. (C) Azimov also relayed an interesting story regarding the
apparent Russian interpretation of Gabala. He said that in
the past two weeks the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
director of the 4th CIS department Sergey Kalin and Russian
Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vasiliy Istratov had visited the
Azerbaijani MFA and when the topic of Gabala came up, both
Russian officials gave differing views of the role of Gabala.
Kalin downplayed the importance of the USG proposals and
prospects for progress, while Istratov a positive reaction,
until squelched by Kalin. This discrepancy led to some
embarrassment between the Russians, with Kalin apparently
telling Istratov to "stand down", resulting in confusion on
the Azerbaijani side. As a result, Azimov said, he would
welcome a USG readout of where Gabala issues stood, as well
as any detail we can provide on a technical assessment of
Gabala.


4. (C) We welcome guidance on any additional detail we can
provide the GOAJ at this stage on the status of any proposals
made to the Russians.
DERSE