DEMARCHE DELIVERED: RUSSIAN ROLE IN ENERGY

S E C R E T MOSCOW 002239 SIPDIS STATE: EUR, EAP, EAP/K; NSC/ASIA E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/01/2018 TAGS: EAID ENRG KNNP PARM PREL RS KN JA CH KS SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: RUSSIAN ROLE IN ENERGY ASSISTANCE TO NORTH KOREA UNDER SIX-PARTY TALKS REF: STATE 82221 Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Alice Wells. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) On August 1 PolOff delivered reftel demarche to MFA First Asia Department Second Secretary Dmitriy Kulkin, a Russian delegation member at Six-Party meetings. Kulkin emphasized that Russia continues to support the "action for action" principle outlined by the Six-Party Talks Economy and Energy Cooperation Working Group, and added that Russia will work actively to fulfill its commitments and complete its shipments of heavy fuel oil (HFO) to the DPRK by October 2008. ¶2. (S) Kulkin noted that Russia has already completed half of its HFO shipments to the DPRK, and emphasized that all relevant GOR agencies are aware of the timeline and commitments to which Russia agreed at the June 2008 meeting of the Economy and Energy Cooperation Working Group. He then added the caveat that, "Russia is looking for all financial resources and administrative capabilities to achieve this goal." Kulkin remarked that according to the agreements from the June Working Group meeting, states could consider financial and administrative means to determine when to deliver remaining HFO shipments. When asked for an answer about adhering to the October 2008 deadline, he firmly responded that Russia is doing everything possible to meet its obligations. ¶3. (S) Kulkin declined to clarify when Russia would deliver its third HFO supply, as requested by the U.S. at the July Working Group meeting and in reftel demarche. He claimed the Working Group agreements did not specify that Russia had to deliver its third HFO tranche by the end of July, and pointed out that the U.S., to his knowledge, had not fully supplied its own third tranche to the DPRK. In response to Kulkin's request for clarification, PolOff reiterated what the U.S. delegation told Russia at the July Working Group meeting, namely that the U.S. would complete its third HFO shipment by the end of August. Kulkin noted that the U.S. and Russia had reached an understanding to piggyback off one another; in other words, once the U.S. had completed a delivery, Russia would ship its own HFO. Considering the U.S. had not yet completed its third shipment, Kulkin commented that the demarche surprised him to some extent. ¶4. (S) When Kulkin turned to the DPRK's nuclear disablement, he hinted that the Six Parties should be doing more to verify the DPRK's progress. If the DPRK received its HFO shipments according to a specific timetable, he argued we should be doing more to ensure the DPRK fulfills its own denuclearization commitments on time. RUBIN