RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER WARMS UP FOR UNGA IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBLIN 000535 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM EI SUBJECT: RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER WARMS UP FOR UNGA IN DUBLIN REF: STATE 98030 Classified By: Pol/Econ Section Chief Ted Pierce; Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) On September 22 in Dublin, Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and rejected Lavrov's claims that Russian actions in Georgia were akin to U.S. and European initiatives in Kosovo and that Russia had been compelled to invade Georgia in August 2008 to protect lives in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. During the meeting, Lavrov reportedly declared that EU peacekeepers would not be admitted to South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Lavrov went on to say that Russia respected the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the Baltic states, but was concerned that the U.S. might try to bring Ukraine into NATO before the end of President Bush's term of office. Lavrov indicated that Russia would not support another UNSC resolution on Iran and tried to duck hard questions about Russia's human rights record. He said that Russia would support stronger action against piracy off the Somali coast. POLOFF interlocutor, Foreign Affairs Acting Political Director Alison Kelly, said it was her distinct impression that in his only European stop before participating in the UNGA, Lavrov was warming up his arguments to see how they played on a small, relatively friendly EU stage before taking them to the big time in New York. Kelly noted that Lavrov returned again and again to the discussion of Georgia, seemingly probing for chinks in the Irish/EU position and fishing for new information that might bolster Russia's arguments. Kelly characterized Martin's responses to Lavrov's overtures as forthright, firm expressions of EU positions -- particularly in regards to Georgia. End summary. -------------- Georgia -------------- ¶2. (C) POLOFF received a read-out on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's meeting with Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin in Dublin on September 22 from Alison Kelly, Acting Political Director, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA),who participated in the meeting. Noting that Lavrov was in the DFA for three and a half hours and spent well over one and a half hours with Martin, Kelly described the substance of the meeting as running the gamut of political, economic, and cultural bilateral matters, but with an especially hard and lengthy focus on the situation in Georgia, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia. ¶3. (C) Lavrov's pitch on the Russian invasion of Georgia, recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and continued occupation of the breakaway regions contained nothing surprising and reflected the Russian "party line" (reftel),according to Kelly. Kelly said that Lavrov stuck to the position that Russian actions were consistent with U.S. and European actions in Kosovo, and that Russian troops were compelled to intervene because hundreds civilian casualties -- including Russian civilians -- were caused by the Georgian military "invasion." Lavrov reportedly launched into a rant about the past actions of the U.S. in Grenada, Haiti, and Panama. Kelly said Lavrov declared that EU peacekeepers would not be admitted to South Ossetia and Abkhazia. She noted that Martin was quick to counter Lavrov's views, firmly advising him that Ireland and the EU did not accept such rationales. -------------- Territorial Integrity -------------- ¶4. (C) Kelly reported that Lavrov went on to reassure Martin that Russia respected the territorial integrity of other nations, emphasizing that it especially recognized the territorial integrity of Ukraine, Lithuania, and the other Baltic states, which, he said, were not under the treat of a foreign invasion. -------------- Ukraine -------------- ¶5. (C) According to Kelly, Lavrov raised Russian concerns that the U.S. would attempt to draw Ukraine into NATO before the end of President Bush's term of office, declaring that such action "would be a mistake." DUBLIN 00000535 002 OF 002 -------------- European Security Treaty -------------- ¶6. (C) Kelly said Lavrov went to some lengths to push Russian interest in the European Security Treaty. -------------- Iran -------------- ¶7. (C) Lavrov indicated that Russia would not support another UNSC resolution on Iran, Kelly said. -------------- Human Rights -------------- ¶8. (C) Kelly emphasized that Martin made a point of raising Irish and EU concerns about Russia's human rights record. While she thought that Lavrov took the point, Kelly noted that he tried to obfuscate the issue by pointing to Russia's many ethnic groups and their differing interpretations of what human rights meant. -------------- Piracy in Somalia -------------- ¶9. (C) Kelly indicated that Lavrov said that Russia and Europe have a shared interest in combating piracy off the coast of Somalia and that Russia would encourage more decisive action against piracy in the region. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶10. (C) All in all, Kelly said it was her distinct impression that in his only European stop (which had been scheduled for some time) before participating in the UNGA, Lavrov was warming up his arguments to see how they played on a small, relatively friendly EU stage before taking them to the big time in New York. Kelly noted that he returned time and again to the discussion of Georgia, seemingly probing for chinks in the Irish/EU position and fishing for new information that might bolster Russia's arguments. Though she described the atmospherics of the meeting as positive, Kelly characterized Martin's responses to Lavrov's overtures as forthright and firm in support of EU positions on issues of interest to Russia -- particularly Georgia. FOLEY