AMBASSADOR'S TOUR D'HORIZON WITH FEDERATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 002032 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/15/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV RS SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S TOUR D'HORIZON WITH FEDERATION COUNCIL FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIR MARGELOV REF: A. MOSCOW 1904 ¶B. MOSCOW 1769 Classified By: Ambassador John R. Beyrle. Reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. Ambassador and Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, Mikhail Margelov discussed Georgia, Iran and the U.S.-Russia 123 Agreement, NATO Membership Action Plan for Ukraine and Georgia, Missile Defense, Medvedev's proposal for a new European security architecture, Afghanistan, and U.S.- Russia business relations. Margelov said he would raise many of these issues in meetings in Washington and New York at the end of the month. Ambassador noted that the U.S.-Russia relationship transcended bilateral issues and had global implications, and noted the importance of building on the positive areas of the relationship. He stressed the importance of Russia taking action to defuse the crisis in Georgia, and urged Margelov to discuss the 123 Agreement and Russia's WTO aspirations with his counterparts in the U.S. Congress. End summary. ¶2. (C) In an initial tour d'horizon with Margelov, the Ambassador noted that the bilateral relationship had grown, and many of the issues the U.S. and Russia were engaged in had a global impact. Thus, as Under Secretary Burns had indicated in his recent Congressional testimony, it was important to note the areas where we cooperated well. Our efforts on reducing nuclear weapons and strengthening security of nuclear materials and sites, particularly through the Nunn-Lugar agreement were significant achievements. Margelov agreed, emphasizing that such joint efforts had paved the way for the 123 Agreement on civil nuclear cooperation. Georgia -------------- ¶3. (C) Margelov told Ambassador that he had been surprised at the deterioration of the situation with respect to Georgia and Abkhazia. Noting that both Russia and Georgia had made mistakes, he said the current situation was good for neither country and he was concerned we were losing time to resolve the issue. He said there were "some" in both Moscow and Tbilisi who wanted to "talk and find a solution," but there were others in Russia who were "stupid and willing to take the bait" provided by Saakashvili. Chechnya was on both countries' borders, and could become a bigger problem for Georgia. Saakashvili would never agree to unification by force, Margelov said, and suggested that the negotiators focus on finding an economic basis for the solution. This would provide guarantees to the "elites," and could leverage the desire for business opportunities provided by the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. Noting that the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (of which he is a member) had offered to Georgia to use its negotiation mechanisms, Margelov said it was necessary for someone to "stop the cycle." ¶4. (C) The Ambassador replied this was why it was important for us to stay engaged in the situation, and why the Secretary had traveled to the region. He stressed that while we could encourage Saakashvili to sign a non-use of force agreement, Russia would need to take steps as well, particularly on the measures in Putin's April 16 Decree. Iran and 123 Agreement -------------- ¶5. (C) The Ambassador emphasized the importance of Russian actions in getting the 123 Agreement approved, noting that while we differed tactically on Iran, our strategic goals were very similar. Margelov said he would advocate for approval of the 123 Agreement during his meetings in Washington July 21-24, and agreed that Russia did not want to see Iran acquire nuclear weapons. NATO MAP/Missile Defense -------------- ¶6. (C) Margelov stressed that a NATO Membership Action Plan for Ukraine and Georgia was a very sensitive issue for Russia, and that Ukraine in particular was approaching the issue the wrong way. Medvedev would find it very difficult if he was forced to target missiles at Ukraine or Poland or the Czech Republic. But some Russian military insisted they needed to have plans to respond to the potential threats caused by NATO enlargement and a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. In response to a question by the Ambassador, Margelov said he had been surprised by the harshness of the MFA statement following the Secretary's signing of a missile defense agreement with the Czech Republic (septel). New European Security Architecture/Afghanistan -------------- - ¶7. (C) Ambassador inquired about Margelov's plan to hold hearings on Medvedev's proposal for a new European Security treaty and summit (reftels). Margelov responded that FM Lavrov had been ready to appear on July 17, but due to the Council's summer recess, they had decided to postpone the debate until September. Noting that he had been with Medvedev in Berlin when he made the proposal, Margelov said that if we really wanted to put the remnants of the Cold War behind us, we needed to rethink the European security architecture. What we had today was inherited from World War II and Potsdam (except for OSCE, he acknowledged),and if we all agreed that the world had changed, we needed a new approach. It might take two-to-three years to achieve, but otherwise we would simply be putting "patchwork fixes" on the current system. Stressing that the proposal was not anti-NATO or anti-EU, Margelov said that Russia merely wanted to begin the discussion, which should include all the existing European organizations, such as NATO, the EU, the OSCE, and Council of Europe. ¶8. (C) The Ambassador stressed that Russia needed NATO's success in places like Afghanistan, and said there was significant scope for greater cooperation in the NATO-Russia Council, and possibly eventually on the ground in Afghanistan. Margelov concurred, highlighting the NATO-Russia Transit Agreement, approved at the Bucharest NRC summit. U.S.- Russia Business Relations -------------- ¶9. (C) Margelov praised the growth in U.S.-Russia business as one of the highlights of the last eight years in the bilateral relationship. He characterized what Severstal was doing in the U.S. and International Paper was doing in Russia as "amazing," and noted that Microsoft now had 34 offices inside Russia. He said he would be exploring in Washington ways he could expand on his "road show," in which he visited 12 American cities in two trips to promote U.S.-Russian relations, and business. He expressed the hope that Members of Congress would engage in similar visits in Russia. ¶10. (C) The Ambassador said there were tremendous strategic opportunities in Russia for business, and this was why problems like those affecting TNK-BP were so frustrating. BEYRLE