MAYOR NON GRATA: MOSCOW REACTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 001330

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/13/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV UP RS
SUBJECT: MAYOR NON GRATA: MOSCOW REACTS


Classified By: PolOff Bob Patterson. Reasons 1.4 (B/D).


1. (U) Amid ample press reports on "Mayor Non Grata," the
MFA issued a statement on May 12, expressing puzzlement over
Ukraine's decision to bar Moscow Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov from
entering Ukraine, following his speech during the May 12
celebrations of the 225th anniversary of the Russian Black
Sea Fleet (BSF) in Sevastopol. Despite "repeated" warnings
by Ukrainian authorities, Luzhkov had delivered a speech
asserting Russia's state right to the naval base. The MFA
statement claimed that Luzhkov had been "unjustifiably"
accused of infringing on Ukraine's sovereignty. Praising
Luzhkov's work to "actively support" relations between the
two countries, the MFA stated that he had merely expressed
the view of most Russians who regarded the break-up of the
Soviet Union painfully. The MFA criticized the GOU for
re-creating black lists to deny Russians the right to comment
on their common history. The MFA statement concluded that
the Ukrainian decision was an "unfriendly step" at odds with
efforts to improve the bilateral relationship.


2. (C) MFA Second CIS Department Director Viktor Sorokin
underscored to us May 13 that Russia stood by Ukraine's
territorial integrity, which included Crimea. The future of
the BSF would be decided by the intergovernmental BSF
Subcommission, not by the Moscow Mayor, he said. Sorokin
thought that the Mayor's speech did not merit such a sweeping
"emotional" decision made by the GOU.


3. (C) Experts' views on Luzhkov's behavior were mixed but
many agreed that Sevastopol remained a Russian city within
Ukrainian territory. Artyom Malgin of the Moscow State
Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) recalled the
Mayor's February 2007 "provocation." At a demonstration in
Sevastopol, Luzhkov said that a clumsy process had torn
Sevastopol and Crimea from Russia. As a populist politician,
Luzhkov always catered to the popular sentiment that Crimea
was "mistakenly" given to Ukraine by Nikita Khurushchev, he
added. Malgin said that Ukraine's aspirations for NATO entry
had heightened the sensitivity toward the "lost" territory
among certain groups of politicians and the public. Deputy
Director of the CIS Institute Vladimir Zharikhin, however,
said that any country would react the way Ukraine did toward
a foreign politician who consistently ignored the warnings
and continued provocative behavior.


4. (U) All major media reported Ukraine's decision vis-a-vis
the Moscow Mayor's latest rant about Russian interests in
Crimea. Many cited his comments in detail. The daily
Kommersant stated that the Moscow Mayor's "initiative" to
reclaim Sevastopol would remain a personal one and nothing
more. Vremya Novostey quoted Konstantin Zatulin, a Duma
deputy, who accompanied Luzhkov, as saying, "If Ukraine
chooses to abrogate the agreement, we would be involuntarily
forced to re-examine Sevastopol's status."
RUSSELL