Identifier | Created | Classification | Origin |
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07USNATO524 | 2007-09-24 16:01:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Mission USNATO |
VZCZCXRO2088 OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHLA RUEHMRE RUEHROV RUEHSR DE RUEHNO #0524/01 2671601 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 241601Z SEP 07 FM USMISSION USNATO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1214 INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUCNOSC/OSCE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 5760 RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 0416 RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC PRIORITY RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY |
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 USNATO 000524 |
4 (b and d) 1. (SBU) Summary: The September 13 Verification Coordinating Committee (VCC) and VCC Experts made progress on agreeing on procedures to deconflict Vienna Document Inspections with four non-Allied OSCE states (Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Austria) for the 2008 year. The NATO Staff will send out a new food for thought paper on modalities for such coordination under a silence procedure. The next expert meeting will be held on October 18, the next VCC will be on November 15, and an experts-only meeting is scheduled for December 19 to finalize CFE quotas for 2008. The Data Management Experts Group (DMEG) met on September 11-14 to update the Verity database of CFE notification information. End Summary. 2. (SBU) Vienna Document Evaluations and Inspections: --Hungary conducted and received bilateral VDOC evaluations with Ukraine in weeks 30-31, and another bilateral will be done with Serbia in week 32; --Germany is planning a bilateral VDOC evaluation in Belarus in week 42 (15-21 Oct), including Czech and Swedish guest inspectors; --Denmark received an inspection from Russia 23-26 July, during which Russia expressed interest in the disposition of its Leopard 1 tanks awaiting reduction. It specifically asked if they were to be sold or transferred to a Baltic state. Russia asked similar questions during a CFE inspection to Denmark a few weeks later; --Hungary conducted a bilateral inspection in Serbia 16-20 July; --Denmark will conduct an inspection in Tajikistan week of Sept 17. 3. (SBU) Coordination of VDOC Inspections with a few non-Allies: Germany emphasized the benefits of such coordination during the VCC meeting, and joined consensus in the experts group on extending an invitation for the four non-Allies identified in the U.S. food for thought paper (Ref B) to engage in VDOC inspection deconfliction with NATO. Canada and Norway strongly supported coordination in October/November in preparation for the 2008 inspection year. The key goals are to prevent the quota rush in January, and to avoid losing quotas planned by NATO states to non-Allies. 4. (SBU) The Chair will prepare a new food for thought paper on this topic by COB September 17, and send it out under a silence procedure of two weeks for VCC adoption. If agreed, the Staff will contact the four candidate non-Allies (Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, and Finland), to invite them to discuss the coordination procedure at the October 18 experts meeting, and if agreement is reached on modalities, to join the November 15 VCC experts meeting to discuss inspection bids and potential scheduling. Mission will forward the new paper upon receipt. 5. (C) CFE Inspections: --Bulgaria informed Allies of its declared site inspection 24-27 July in the flanks including guest inspectors from Germany, Belgium, Romania, and Slovakia, which was carried out at the third selected site ) Sertolovo (147th Separate Tank Training Battalion). Russia declared force majeure on the first locations selected: Prokhladnyy (K0395) and Vladikavkaz (K0101) due to security concerns; --Poland conducted an Article VII inspection in Belarus at Osipovichi, at the 51st High Power Artillery Regiment (OOV 26) including guests from Poland, U.S., Germany, and Hungary; --Denmark conducted an inspection in Russia 4-6 September at Ryazan parachute school. Russia did not provide briefings on equipment seen in the common areas, nor did it allow photos to be taken inside buildings; --Germany reported on its attempted supplementary inspection USNATO 00000524 002.2 OF 003 to the 42nd Armored Equipment Storage Base site in Pskov Oblast. Per Ref A, Russia,s response to the notification request indicated Germany must inspect an OOV that had previously been inspected. Germany held bilateral consultations with Russian counterparts in the MFA, and ultimately was allowed to carry out this inspection, but that this decision would not apply to future inspections. Germany had also intended to carry out a supplementary inspection from 11-14 September, but Russia replied in its notification that Germany had not conducted an earlier quota inspection (in order to earn a supplementary one). Subsequently, Russian MFA reps went beyond this to say that Germany could only conduct a supplementary inspection at a site in the flanks that had already been inspected that year. Germany believes Russia was wrong to seek such an imposition, although some of their legal advisors said it was a possible interpretation of the Flank document. Germany recommended that Allies discuss how to respond during future events, which he characterized as ¬ urgent8 although Denmark was quick to point out that there are seven such inspections pending this fall. --The U.S. noted that we have studied the flank language cited by Russia, and also believe Russia,s interpretation is incorrect, and offered to provide our own legal analysis for Allied review. We asked Germany to provide a written summary of this implementation issue as a courtesy to Allies, but Germany demurred. Comment: Germany does not want to challenge Russia on this issue, and may be concerned that putting it in writing to Allies could send the wrong signal should Russia learn of the paper. End Comment. We urged Allies to challenge this practice so it does not appear that Russia, position has been accepted. The Chair offered to provide background materials from Allied discussion in 1996 for reference. Norway is the next state planning a supplemental inspection, and it plans to challenge this position if Russia attempts to impose it again. France confirmed that it would also challenge the position, especially since it does not want to inspect a site that has already been inspected. The U.S. said we would also do so on our future missions. 6. (C) CFE Schedule changes: --Turkey will conduct a mission in Russia week 38 versus 51; --Germany will conduct a mission in Ukraine week 51 versus 31; --Germany will move a mission to Russia to week 50 versus 36 (in order to keep one available for use after December 12 in the event Russia does not suspend Treaty activity); --The U.S. announced it would swap two inspections to Russia such that we conduct a regular quota in week 33 (22-28 Oct); and then schedule a supplemental inspection in week 48 (4-10 Feb); and --Norway plans to schedule the 10th available supplemental inspection, and thus will conduct two quotas in week 33 ) a regular and supplemental inspection as a sequential. 7. (SBU) Georgia ) Paired Inspection Request: The Chair noted that Georgia,s request to pair two inspections with Allies has not been fully answered. Turkey confirmed that it plans to share a mission with Georgia of the Russian forces stationed in Armenia. The Chair asked Allies to review possibilities for another pairing opportunity and discuss further at the October 18 experts meeting. 8. (C) Extraordinary Conference: The Chair made note of the developments regarding a solution to Russia,s possible suspension of CFE, including the U.S. parallel action plan under discussion at the HLTF the same day. Canada asked what the consequences would be if Russia suspended regarding the December 19 experts meeting on quotas. While recognizing that contingency planning may be necessary, Germany, the U.S., and UK urged that we continue planning according to the Treaty, including inspection planning for 2008. Given the political efforts underway, it would be premature to discuss alternate implementation outcomes. 9. (SBU) Inspection Site paper (AC/319-N(2007)0014-Rev 1): Experts reached consensus on the text discussed at the July meeting, including previous U.S. and Turkish comments. The Chair will circulate the document under silence procedure for VCC approval so it can be sent to Vienna for discussion in the JCG. 10. (SBU) Documenting Ambiguity paper (AC/319-N(2007)0024): Canada and Germany were not in favor of the previous language suggested by Turkey for &unless otherwise agreed8 language regarding use of digital cameras. Turkey was not present, so USNATO 00000524 003.2 OF 003 the Chair will consult with them separately to seek their agreement to drop the drafting suggestion. If Turkey agrees, the Chair will circulate the text under a silence procedure for VCC approval so it may also be discussed in Vienna. 11. (SBU) CARS Seminar. The Chair recalled discussion from the 16 May meeting concerning possible scheduling for a second seminar in Central Asia, perhaps in Ashgabad, Turkmenistan. The NATO staff confirmed that it would not be possible to &export8 the NATO school VDOC course, but the ACCS staff would be willing to help organize another seminar if a state(s) were willing to lead the effort. Germany expressed interest in another seminar, and is willing to work with others to prepare it. Canada said it could provide a speaker. The Chair asked states to review and discuss at the next meeting. 12. (SBU) Open Skies: Several states reported on recent observation flights, and Hungary provided information on its certification event. Norway made note that while the Russian escorts were not as cooperative as in previous flights, the imagery obtained from its shared mission with Georgia over Russia was free of clouds and good quality. Comment: The U.S. has already ordered a copy of this mission from Norway. End Comment. 13. (SBU) Moldova: The Chair noted that week 52 remains open for volunteers should the need arise. Comment: The U.S. has volunteered for several other weeks this fall. End Comment. 14. (SBU) Training: The Chair noted the CFE inspector/escort NATO training course P5-18 took place 27 Aug ) 7 September. 20 students took part from 9 states (including partner states Ukraine and Moldova). He thanked Germany for providing two sites for field trip exercises. A VCC experts meeting on training courses will also be held on November 15. Review: Comments/suggestions/feedback on NATO courses are welcome for this meeting. Please advise. 15. (SBU) VCC Seminar 4-5 October. The Chair said a few minor changes have been made to the agenda and a new version should be circulated soon. The session on Nagorno-Karabakh has been dropped. The Chair requested that briefings and bios on speakers be provided as soon as possible. NATO staff informed us that Russia plans to send MFA rep Fedoryakov to the VCC Seminar. 16. (SBU) AOB: Slovenia announced an initiative to establish bilateral contacts with Uzbekistan on VDOC implementation. German rep Fleissig announced his departure for a new assignment. An Experts meeting on &outstanding8 issues is scheduled for February 12-13. DMEG -------------------------- 17. (SBU) The Data Management Experts Group (DMEG) met on September 11, followed by the Notified Current Force Structure (NCFS) Review with partner countries on September 13-14. A new VERITY clone will be available to interested nations at the end of September and will include the enhancements and fixes to the chart printing module that the U.S. contractor made during this meeting. The new clone and a copy of the latest version of the Offline Inspection Component (OIC) software used to automate CFE inspection reports for VERITY will be obtained and maintained for testing purposes by the contractor in Washington. From the perspective of U.S. data and software responsibilities, the interfaces between VERITY XXI and the new, U.S.-developed versions of ADS Chart Printing software version 6.4 and the OSCE Integrated Notification Application (INA) version 2.2 are working smoothly. 18. (SBU) The NCFS review was completed, and updates to U.S. notification entries were confirmed. Unfortunately, Russia did not send a representative (as has been past practice), so the U.S. and Canada reviewed the Russia notification data for completeness. 19. (SBU) The next DMEG is scheduled for 14-15 January 2008 and will be followed by a VERITY Workshop and Data Assembly Meeting with Partner countries on 16-18 January. The schedule of DMEG meetings in 2008 provided at the June meeting was accepted without change. OLSON |