FRANCE SHARES U.S. VIEWS ON CFE AND PUTIN'S APRIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001723

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2017
TAGS: PREL KCFE PARM NATO RU FR
SUBJECT: FRANCE SHARES U.S. VIEWS ON CFE AND PUTIN'S APRIL
26 REMARKS

REF: STATE 57275

Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, Reason 1
.4 B/D


1. (C) On April 30th, we raised reftel demarche on Russia and
its CFE obligations with Arnaud Roux, MFA action officer
responsible for CFE. Roux observed that France shared our
concern with respect to Russian intentions, especially if
Russia is looking to abandon its commitment to the CFE
regime. The nature of the Russian threat is unclear, Roux
added, as it might include Russian actions against CFE
inspection team visits, data exchanges, or a break in Russian
participation in the Joint Consultative Group (JCG) in
Vienna. Additionally, it's also unclear to France whether
Russian threats pertain to future actions or are subject to
more immediate implementation. Roux noted that the Russians
have asked for a meeting with the MFA on May 2, which he
hopes will serve to clarify Russian thinking. (Note: Roux
agreed to share with us his readout of the meeting.)


2. (C) Roux further agreed with us that the Russians are
wrong to seek a linkage between CFE and MD discussions at
NATO or to imply that NATO is not fulfilling its obligations
under CFE. France also does not believe that temporary U.S.
troop deployments under our bilateral basing agreements with
Romania and Bulgaria exceed CFE ceilings, he added. In
response to our query, Roux emphasized that France intends to
maintain Allied solidarity on this issue and looks forward to
consultations in the Quad and at the HLTF. France is
concerned that Russian actions on CFE could potentially lead
to further Russian actions against Open Skies and CSBM of

1999.


3. (U) Separately, on April 27, in response to a press query
about Mr. Lavrov's statements about Russia's moratorium on
the CFE treaty, the MFA press spokesperson made the following
point:

Informal translation of MFA-provided text

The Russian authorities have raised the possibility of a
moratorium on Russia's application of the treaty, while
calling on NATO to hold discussions in the NATO-Russia
Council. The Russian authorities are considering the
possibility of withdrawing Russia from its obligations under
the treaty.

For France and its allies, the Treaty on Conventional Armed
Forces in Europe is a cornerstone of security in Europe. It
constitutes in particular a unique legal and political
framework for organizing security on our continent.

We shall naturally continue to discuss questions relating to
the CFE treaty and the agreement on adaptation in the
NATO/Russia Council. We shall also continue to discuss in
this same framework American projects for missile defense
against the ballistic missile threat from the Middle East.
We hope this dialogue will dispel the misunderstandings and
that Russia will reverse the announcement it made yesterday.

End text


4. (U) In a follow-up question on missile defense, the
spokesperson stated that "these are different issues. There
is the CFE treaty, which deals with conventional forces, and
the missile defense system. On our side we make no link
between these two questions. It's the Russians who tend to
establish a link."



Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm

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