RESPONDING TO RUSSIAN ACTIONS ON SEPARATIST

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 000626 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2017 TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS MD GG RS SUBJECT: RESPONDING TO RUSSIAN ACTIONS ON SEPARATIST CONFLICTS REF: STATE 15283 Classified By: PolMilCouns Alice G. Wells. Reason: 1.4 (b, d) ¶1. (C) We approached Russian MFA South Ossetia negotiator Popov and, separately, Transnistria negotiator Nesterushkin with reftel demarche. We stressed the change in Russian official practice, referring to separatist leaders as if they were legitimate, and asked whether Russia is not taking yet another step to undermine Moldovan and Georgian territorial integrity. ¶2. (C) Popov replied that there is no change in the Russian position, and Russia is careful to refer to the figures as presidents or foreign ministers of geographical regions without reference to political status ("South Ossetia," "Transnistria") rather than as officials of legitimate state units (Republic of South Ossetia, Transnistrian Republic," etc.) Nesterushkin gave the same argument, and added that the references we cited were press releases, not MFA statements. ¶3. (C) We dismissed these arguments as sophistry and urged Popov and Nesterushkin to demonstrate more clearly Russia's stated support for territorial integrity. With Nesterushkin, this led to a discussion of what these countries' territory is: he maintained that the separatist entities had seceded from the republics before the republics achieved independence from the USSR. Therefore, Moldova, for example, is claiming territory that belonged to the Moldovan SSR but was never de facto incorporated into the independent Republic of Moldova; a similar situation applied to Georgia and Azerbaijan. We replied this was not our understanding of the chronology, and ended the discussion by calling on Russia to support the territorial integrity within the borders of the former Union Republics of the USSR, which had been recognized by the international community to avoid just such conflicts. BURNS