Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07MOSCOW825
2007-02-27 15:10:00
SECRET
Embassy Moscow
Cable title:
RUSSIAN MFA CITES DIP NOTE ON SMUGGLED HEU SAMPLE
how-toVZCZCXYZ0012 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHMO #0825 0581510 ZNY SSSSS ZZH O 271510Z FEB 07 FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7737 INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 2994 RUEHSI/AMEMBASSY TBILISI PRIORITY 3802 RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 0619 RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA PRIORITY 0449
S E C R E T MOSCOW 000825
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR ISN/CTR (CURRY),AND EUR/PRA (FRIEDT)
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2017
TAGS: KNNP MNUC ENRG PARM ASEC
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN MFA CITES DIP NOTE ON SMUGGLED HEU SAMPLE
REF: A. SECSTATE 20742
B. TBILISI 269
C. MOSCOW 461
Classified By: EST Counselor Daniel O'Grady. Reasons: 1.4 (b,d)
S E C R E T MOSCOW 000825
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR ISN/CTR (CURRY),AND EUR/PRA (FRIEDT)
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2017
TAGS: KNNP MNUC ENRG PARM ASEC
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN MFA CITES DIP NOTE ON SMUGGLED HEU SAMPLE
REF: A. SECSTATE 20742
B. TBILISI 269
C. MOSCOW 461
Classified By: EST Counselor Daniel O'Grady. Reasons: 1.4 (b,d)
1. (S) As instructed by REF A, we met February 26 with
Mikhail Kondratenkov, of the MFA's Department of Disarmament
and Security Affairs (DVBR),and asked him to clarify
Moscow's purported request to the Georgian Government for an
additional sample of the HEU that was seized in Georgia in
February 2006. We underscored that it would be useful to
learn when this request had been made, whether it was in
writing and what phrasing had been used -- to ensure there
was no confusion. Kondratenkov promised to find out the
specifics and inform us.
2. (S) On February 27 DVBR's Aleksandr Bulychev, who had sat
in the meeting, called us to report that the Russian Embassy
in Tbilisi had delivered a diplomatic note on the HEU issue
to the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 13.
The diplomatic note had been addressed to A. Torondjadze, in
the Department of Global Relations. In the note, the Russian
Embassy had requested a sample of "not less than 10 grams" of
the smuggled HEU. Bulychev said that the diplomatic note
also asked for additional materials to be provided to the
Procurator General's office in Russia, in support of a
potential criminal case that might be opened here. (NOTE:
The Russian press has reported that the smuggling suspect's
brother is a high-ranking customs official in North Ossetia,
speculating that this could become an investigative trail.
END NOTE)
BURNS
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR ISN/CTR (CURRY),AND EUR/PRA (FRIEDT)
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2017
TAGS: KNNP MNUC ENRG PARM ASEC
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN MFA CITES DIP NOTE ON SMUGGLED HEU SAMPLE
REF: A. SECSTATE 20742
B. TBILISI 269
C. MOSCOW 461
Classified By: EST Counselor Daniel O'Grady. Reasons: 1.4 (b,d)
1. (S) As instructed by REF A, we met February 26 with
Mikhail Kondratenkov, of the MFA's Department of Disarmament
and Security Affairs (DVBR),and asked him to clarify
Moscow's purported request to the Georgian Government for an
additional sample of the HEU that was seized in Georgia in
February 2006. We underscored that it would be useful to
learn when this request had been made, whether it was in
writing and what phrasing had been used -- to ensure there
was no confusion. Kondratenkov promised to find out the
specifics and inform us.
2. (S) On February 27 DVBR's Aleksandr Bulychev, who had sat
in the meeting, called us to report that the Russian Embassy
in Tbilisi had delivered a diplomatic note on the HEU issue
to the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 13.
The diplomatic note had been addressed to A. Torondjadze, in
the Department of Global Relations. In the note, the Russian
Embassy had requested a sample of "not less than 10 grams" of
the smuggled HEU. Bulychev said that the diplomatic note
also asked for additional materials to be provided to the
Procurator General's office in Russia, in support of a
potential criminal case that might be opened here. (NOTE:
The Russian press has reported that the smuggling suspect's
brother is a high-ranking customs official in North Ossetia,
speculating that this could become an investigative trail.
END NOTE)
BURNS