RUSSIANS SUPPORT AFRICAN UNION FORCE IN SOMALIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 000677 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/E GAREY AND AF/RSA BITTRICK E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2017 TAGS: KPKO MOPS PHUM PREL EUN SO RS SUBJECT: RUSSIANS SUPPORT AFRICAN UNION FORCE IN SOMALIA REF: STATE 17083 Classified By: Pol/Min Counselor Alice G. Wells. Reasons: 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (C) On February 15 we delivered reftel points to Oleg Dadayev, chief of the MFA's Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea Section, urging support for an African Union force in Somalia. Dadayev said the GOR would support an African Union Force as well as the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia. He added that the GOR believed that a regional approach, or even a broader international approach, was the best way to bring security to Somalia. He praised Ugandan participation in peacekeeping operation, and noted that Ethiopia's decision to withdraw its forces was the correct choice. ¶2. (C) Responding to reftel points on U.S. goals in Somalia, Dadayev questioned U.S. motives for its involvement, saying that some in the GOR believed the U.S. was after Somalia's energy resources. Dadayev took on board our point that the U.S. wanted to prevent Somalia from being a safe haven for terrorists as part of our strategy in the Global Was on Terrorism. ¶3. (C) In a February 14 meeting, Vladimir Safronkov, Chief of the UN Political Affairs Section in the MFA's International Organizations Department, told us that Russia wanted to work together with the U.S. on Somalia. He pointed out that Russia had not objected to Ethiopia's "unsanctioned" intervention in Somalia, noting that some state needed to remove the Islamist regime before it grew too strong and Somalia became even a greater haven for terrorists. Russia supported the AU Force in Somalia, but Safronkov was skeptical about the mission's staying power. At the same time, he warned that a transition to a UN PKO would have to be carefully reviewed by the Security Council. BURNS