U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO DISCUSSES AFGHANISTAN,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 001356 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/01/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR NATO EUN GM RS SUBJECT: U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO DISCUSSES AFGHANISTAN, RUSSIA, MAP, PIRACY AND NATO SUMMIT WITH GERMAN OFFICIALS REF: BERLIN 01295 Classified By: DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION JOHN KOENIG FOR REASONS: 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker met separately with NSA Christoph Heusgen and MFA Deputy Political Director Eberhard Pohl September 26 to discuss NATO operations in Afghanistan; NATO relations with Russia following the war in Georgia; Ukraine and Georgia; efforts to fight piracy off the Horn of Africa; and next year's 60th anniversary NATO Summit to be held in Kehl and Strasbourg. Although both the MFA and Chancellery appeared confident that the Bundeswehr's mandate for Afghanistan would be renewed, Heusgen and Pohl doubted that a NATO decision on AWACS would be reached in time to be incorporated into the mandate. Heusgen appeared to take a stronger line on avoiding business as usual with Russia than the MFA, but both warned that the West needs to cooperate with Russia in many areas. The future of NATO relations with Georgia and Ukraine were only discussed during the MFA meeting, and Pohl reiterated Germany's stance against awarding MAP at the December NATO foreign ministerial. Heusgen agreed with Volker on the need to join this discussion in light of Russia,s implementation (or not) of its agreement to withdraw forces to South Ossetia and Abkhazia territories by October 10. Also, solely in the MFA meeting, Pohl reassured Ambassador Volker that Germany did not plan to draw down its commitments to the Standing NATO Maritime Force or to Task Force 150 in order to contribute to the planned ESDP counter-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa. Finally, Pohl and Heusgen emphasized the importance of the April NATO Summit. END SUMMARY. AFGHANISTAN ¶2. (C) Pohl and Heusgen expected the ISAF mandate renewal -- including a planned increase in the troop ceiling from 3500 to 4500 -- to receive Bundestag approval, but saw difficulties with incorporating an authorization for German personnel to participate in the planned NATO AWACS mission due to the French role in pushing off a NATO decision because of disagreements over funding issues. Pohl said that the MFA was drafting the mandate as if a NATO decision would come through but was prepared to drop the AWACS language at the last moment. Volker pressed Pohl on the possibility of the MFA including contingency language in the mandate in case a NATO decision did not come through in time, but Pohl thought the Bundestag would reject this as a "blank check." Pohl expressed some dismay with the French and said the MFA had "more or less given up on the issue." According to Heusgen, Chancellor Merkel and French President Sarkozy had talked about AWACS, but left the issue for their staff to resolve. Heusgen said he phoned his French counterparts September 26, but the situation remained "pretty bleak." (COMMENT: German officials very much want to avoid seeking a separate, stand-alone mandate to allow German military personnel to participate in the NATO AWACS mission, but have not yet ruled out doing so. The German comments about "giving up" seem to reflect a belief that France may well spike the whole mission or drag out the NATO decision-making for a considerable time. END COMMENT.) ¶3. (C) On counter-narcotics (CN),Pohl said the GOG supports ISAF CN efforts and is shaping the ISAF mandate accordingly. Pohl said that while Germany would not be in the front line in CN efforts, Germany would play a supportive role similar to its responsibilities in ISAF: help regional commanders stay informed and assist coordination. Pohl stressed that two concerns for Germany are 1) regional commanders not having current information, and 2) police corruption, which greatly impedes any CN efforts. Volker said he would pass on these specific concerns for how to improve the mission and stressed the importance of Germany not appearing to opt-out of the new proposed ISAF CN tasks, i.e. interdicting labs and drug traffickers, but rather allowing others to affirmatively "opt in." Heusgen expected the mandate's language to allow for the "pursuit" of narcotics labs by German forces. Pohl said Germany does not care for the opt-in language and stressed the public's restrictions on what Germany can do in Afghanistan given the widespread public perception that Afghanistan is on a downward spiral. Pohl said Germany will do as much "as the market can bear." NATO-RUSSIA ¶4. (C) Ambassador Volker said the U.S. agreed to go forward with the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) PrepCom meeting September 29 but stressed that the meeting should only be at a low technical level. Heusgen noted that he agreed with the U.S. position on postponing any NRC PrepCom but stressed that the BERLIN 00001356 002 OF 002 Chancellery received no support from the MFA on postponement. From the MFA side, Pohl said Germany sees PrepComs as part of a general effort to engage Russia and bridge the large perception gap between Brussels and Moscow. Pohl expressed his dissatisfaction with the US "policy of closing doors and not meeting" and reiterated the need to talk with Russia to identify ways to overcome this perception gap. Heusgen echoed this point and argued that Russia and the West operate from different basic assumptions: Putin called the fall of the Soviet Union the greatest catastrophe in history, while Merkel said it was her dearest memory. Heusgen also argued that the West needs cooperation with Russia in many areas, including the economy. Volker agreed that we should maintain channels of communication with Russia -- noting, for example, Secretary Rice,s meeting with Foreign Minister Lavrov in New York. But at the same time, we need to avoid slipping back into "business as usual" in institutional relationships such as the NATO-Russia Council. NATO'S FUTURE WITH UKRAINE AND GEORGIA ¶5. (C) Pohl said Germany's assessment of Ukraine and Georgia as unready for MAP remains and did not expect Germany's position to change by the December NATO foreign ministerial. Although Pohl did not use language as strong as other MFA officials (reftel),he argued that the Alliance should prepare together for December rather than making unilateral public statements about MAP. Pohl stressed that Germany's approach to both countries is long-term, and focused on helping democratic and economic development. Pohl voiced the concern that introducing a divisive issue such as MAP provides an opening for the Russians. ¶6. (C) Ambassador Volker stated to both Pohl and Heusgen that we need to return to discussion of MAP within NATO, but only in light of the state of Russia's withdrawal from Georgian territory after October 10. He also stated that when MAP was created in 1999, it was precisely because nations were not ready for NATO membership -- we should not move the goal posts. Independent of MAP, Volker also raised the possibility of NATO providing an assistance package to Georgia in the fall, which could include assistance in preparing a national military strategy, establishinQcommand and control structures, disposing of ordinance, and training military leaders. Pohl responded that Georgia is overwhelmed sometimes by all the assistance and was disinclined to discuss a potential package. PIRACY ¶7. (C) Ambassador Volker raised concerns that the planned ESDP counter-piracy mission would lead some Allies to draw down their current contributions to the Standing NATO Maritime Group (SNMG) or to Task Force 150. That is why the U.S. sought a tasking to NATO Military Authorities to do an assessment of what other organizations are doing to fight piracy and lay out the implications for NATO. Pohl expected an ESDP operation by December and noted that Germany is looking at how the ESDP mission will interact with the SNMG. He complained that the EU and NATO do not interface well. Pohl stressed that additional resources would be provided to fill out an ESDP operation rather than simply drawing down from NATO SNMG. 60TH ANNIVERSARY NATO SUMMIT ¶8. (C) Pohl said Germany planned to orient the Summit around four major goals: welcoming the new U.S. president, celebrating the 60th anniversary of NATO, launching the negotiation of a new strategic concept, and welcoming France back into NATO's integrated military command. Pohl was concerned that the Summit would be bogged down in procedural concerns rather than focusing on these top issues. Heusgen said that although Germany had first considered Berlin for the Summit, Germany decided on Kehl-Strassburg as a way to underscore the French-German foundation of the Alliance and to bring France back into NATO as a full-fledged Ally. Volker said we support these goals but also cautioned that the new U.S. President, no matter who it is, will face public and political expectations to deal with the critical issues of Afghanistan, Russia, and Georgia/Ukraine. This needs to be part of the French and German thinking. ¶9. (U) Ambassador Volker has reviewed and cleared this message. TIMKEN JR