SECRETARY'S LETTER TO LAVROV ON KUZNETSOV TRANSFER

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 002964 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV KCRM PINR RS SUBJECT: SECRETARY'S LETTER TO LAVROV ON KUZNETSOV TRANSFER DELIVERED REF: STATE 105094 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Alice G. Wells; reason 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) On Qober 2 we delivered the Secretary's letter to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov concerning the conditions for the return of Russian diplomat Vladimir Kuznetsov to Russia to serve out his sentence for money laundering. ¶2. (C) MFA North America Deputy Director Aleksandr Zakharov had no substantive comment to the letter, but did raise several points concerning the proposed transfer which are troubling the GOR. Zakharov repeated that the GOR was surprised that the payment of the U.S. fine was still an issue because he said the MFA was told during the negotiations for the transfer that the fine would "not be a problem." He also said that Kuznetsov had received notice five to seven days before that he would be transferred from the Federal Correctional Facility in Allenwood, Pennsylvania to a INS holding facility. Zakharov expressed concern over the conditions at such a facility. He said that the proposed transfer could take several months given the fact that Kuznetsov's wife is currently trying to raise the funds to pay both the USD 73,671 fine imposed by the U.S. district court as well as the 1,000,000 ruble (approximately USD 45,000) fine imposed by the Moscow City Court and the possibility of substantial delays in the legal paperwork necessary for the transfer. Lastly, he mentioned that Russian consular officials were experiencing increasing difficulty in arranging prison visits with Kuznetsov. He said that even after filing all the necessary notices, when the consular officer arrived at the Allenwood facility, prison officials there had not received any notification for the visit. ¶3. (SBU) We promised Zakharov that we would convey his concerns to the Department. RUBIN