RUSSIAN RECOGNITION OF ABHAZIA/SOUTH OSSETIA:

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 002554 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/RUS, EAP/MLS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV UNSC RU TH SUBJECT: RUSSIAN RECOGNITION OF ABHAZIA/SOUTH OSSETIA: THAIS STILL FORMULATING POLICY REF: A. SECSTATE 91894 ¶B. BANGKOK 02545 Classified By: Pol Counselor George Kent, reason 1.4 (b, d) ¶1. (SBU) We discussed ref A points on Russia's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia with MFA Director for Central and Eastern Europe Pachuen Phornmongkol on August 27, following up on the previous demarche on August 26 (ref B). Pachuen reiterated that Thailand was not a stakeholder in the conflict and therefore was still not ready to develop a concrete policy towards Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. ¶2. (C) Russian Ambassador to Thailand Yevgeny V. Afanasiev called on Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag early August 27 to present Russia's viewpoint on the conflict, according to Pachuen. She said that Ambassador Afanasiev told FM Tej that Russia did not intend to antagonize the U.S., and planned to continue to develop the positive relationship built over the past year. Pachuen said that FM Tej did not respond to Ambassador Afanasiev's points, but merely accepted them as part of his continued analysis of the conflict. JOHN