RUSSIAN DFM GRUSHKO ON OSCE DUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 005958 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2017 TAGS: PREL OSCE RS SUBJECT: RUSSIAN DFM GRUSHKO ON OSCE DUES Classified By: DCM Daniel Russell for reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (U) Local press seized on Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko's December 26 statement about Russia's decreasing contributions to the OSCE budget. During an end-of-year press conference, Grushko said, "Russia is already reducing its financing of the OSCE. If we look at the evolution of this contribution, it has been corresponding more and more with the ability-to-pay principle, which is stipulated by the UN." Kommersant newspaper reported that Grushko said Russia would reduce its OSCE dues by 50 percent. ¶2. (C) MFA European Cooperation Department Counselor Vladimir Yanin told us on December 27 that Kommersant "completely misinterpreted" Grushko's statements regarding Russia paying its OSCE dues. Yanin explained that Grushko advocated a recalculation of the way countries pay into the OSCE budget; namely, each country's ability to pay should be considered, like at the UN. Yanin said that Grushko never threatened to cut off or reduce Russia's contribution to the OSCE, and joked that Russia was not attempting "to start a crisis involving the OSCE before the New Year." Yanin was unsure where the 50 percent figure came from, but speculated that if Russia paid the same proportion of the OSCE budget as it does the UN budget, Russia's contribution could drop by 50 percent. ¶3. (C) Comment: Russian calls for a recalculation of contributions to the OSCE scales of assessment are not new. Grushko's comments sound to us like continued frustration over Russia's inability to win traction for its OSCE "reform" proposals. BURNS