FINLAND: STUBB RAISES GEORGIA AND US MISSILE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HELSINKI 000186 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM FI RU SUBJECT: FINLAND: STUBB RAISES GEORGIA AND US MISSILE DEFENSE WITH RUSSIAN FM LAVROV REF: STATE 40673 Classified By: PolChief Greg Thome, Reasons 1.4 b,d. ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Finnish FM Stubb and Russian FM held their first official meeting April 25. Their lengthy discussions focused on bilateral issues, the EU-Russia relationship, and the OSCE. Stubb raised UAV incident in Georgia and the Russian Presidential Instructions on South Ossetia and Abkhazia, urging Moscow to seek a more constructive dialogue with Tblisi. On EU matters, Lavrov suggested that Brussels needed to improve its dialogue with Russia, including on the CFE and US Missile Defense (MD). Stubb responded by noting that ratification of the Lisbon Treaty should -- in general terms -- improve the EU's ability to discuss security matters with one voice, but he made clear to Lavrov that the EU was not an appropriate interlocutor for Russia on MD. The ministers' meeting also focused heavily on economic issues, including the proposed Nordstream gas pipeline as well as an ongoing dispute over Russian export tariffs on timber which have had a devastating impact on the Finnish forestry industry. Both sides were clearly interested in keeping the tone productive and amiable. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Newly named Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb traveled to Moscow for his first bilateral with Russian FM Sergei Lavrov April 25. Moscow and Helsinki both place great emphasis on maintaining healthy avenues of communication; as such, the Finns sent a large delegation with Stubb (including two Directors General and their Special OSCE Envoy),and the Russians set aside nearly three hours for what proved to be warm and wide- ranging discussions. On April 28, MFA Russia Unit Deputy Director Antti Vanska and MFA Deskoff for Georgia Paivi Pihlajamaki provided Poloffs the following read-out. Georgia: Finns Raise Concerns about Russian Provocations -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Despite the generally amiable tone of the meetings, Vanska and Pihlajamaki noted that Stubb did not shy away from raising recent Russian actions toward Georgia. Speaking for his own government and for the Finnish OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office (CiO),Stubb expressed concern about the shootdown of a Georgian UAV and Putin's 'Presidential Instructions' regarding Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Stubb urged Moscow to communicate more openly with Tblisi; to do what it could to lower the temperature surrounding the UAV in particular; and to find ways of playing a constructive role in Abkhazia and South Ossetia without threatening Georgian sovereignty. Stubb noted that the OSCE would be a proper forum for a broad airing of the UAV shootdown, and reassured Lavrov that the Finnish CiO would endeavor to 'channel' that discussion in order to ensure that it remained productive. Lavrov offered no substantive response regarding either the Presidential Instructions or the UAV, aside from suggesting obliquely that the OSCE needed to find 'more serious' mechanisms for addressing security issues. He confirmed that President Putin had finally taken a call from President Shakasvili, and that Moscow did not oppose 'productive' discussions of Georgia in the OSCE. (Comment: At this point, Vanska and Pihlajamaki editorialized that, while the OSCE discussions on Russia and Georgia are necessary, they are unlikely to produce major progress.) Lavrov also noted to Stubb that he had discussed Georgia with Secretary Rice. ¶4. (C) Regarding other OSCE issues, Lavrov offered several of the frequently-heard Russian complaints about various OSCE institutions, and he alleged that the US is 'imposing' (no further elaboration) its view of the OSCE Charter on other member states. Lavrov criticized OSCE rules governing NGOs' participation, saying that it should adopt the UN's model. He also expressed 'his usual concerns' about ODHIR, Vanska said. Stubb responded that the OSCE's 1992 document regarding NGOs remains adequate, in Finland's view; that the OSCE's institutions need strengthening, not weakening; and that the Finns remain fully supportive of ODHIR. Stubb did not respond to Lavrov's vague complaint about the US and the OSCE Charter, Vanska added. An EU Expert on the EU-Russia Relationship -------------- ¶5. (C) Given Stubb's deep expertise and experience with the EU, the ministers were enthusiastic about exploring ways to strengthen the EU-Russia relationship. Stubb noted the EU's internal negotiating framework for a new EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), which has been repeatedly held up by various EU member HELSINKI 00000186 002 OF 002 states for nearly two years. Lavrov welcomed this development, and thanked the Finns for their leadership on the PCA, which dates back to their 2006 EU Presidency. Lavrov also expressed satisfaction with Finnish leadership within the EU's Northern Dimension program and praised EU-Russia cooperation under that mechanism. Stubb and Lavrov shared concerns about Baltic Sea health, and both expected good new regional initiatives to emerge next year, given Stockholm's stated interest in making the Baltic a focus of its 2009 EU Presidency. Lavrov also raised the issue of EU-Russia crisis management (CM) cooperation; he and Stubb agreed that Chad might be a good place to begin exploring this possibility, Vanska reported. EU Not/Not the Forum for Missile Defense -------------- ¶6. (C) Lavrov referred specifically to the US Missile Defense (MD) initiative and the CFE treaty by stating that the EU needed to improve its capacity to discuss security issues such as these with Russia bilaterally. Stubb agreed -- in very general terms -- on the need for a more unified EU voice on all foreign and security policy issues, holding out the hope that eventual ratification of the Lisbon Treaty would make this easier. However, Vanska emphasized, Stubb was speaking generally, and not about the specific issues of CFE or MD; Stubb made clear that MD is not an EU issue, but rather one that Russia must handle bilaterally with the US and with the two EU member that are directly involved. Economic Issues -------------- ¶7. (C) Stubb and Lavrov also discussed several outstanding works-in-progress, including Russia's effort to slap WTO-inconsistent tariffs on wood exports to Finland; the need to facilitate commerce and shipping at the borders; and the facilitation of work visas, especially for Finns seeking to invest in Russia. Lavrov also raised Nordstream's proposed gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, urging the GoF not to allow the matter to become 'politicized' in Finland, as he alleged it has in Estonia and elsewhere. Stubb reiterated that the GoF's general support for the concept of the pipeline has not become a political issue in Finland. Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) No EU country works harder than Finland at maintaining a productive and amiable bilateral relationship with Russia, and Stubb's first trip to Moscow as FM was no exception to that standard practice. However, we are pleased that Stubb did not shy away from raising potentially divisive issues such as Georgia, and that he was clearly willing to push back against the usual Russian grumbling about issues such as MD, ODHIR and the OSCE's other institutions. HYATT