MFA REASSERTS SUPPORT FOR NATO MISSION IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 000624 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL AF RS SUBJECT: MFA REASSERTS SUPPORT FOR NATO MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN REF: MOSCOW 520 Classified By: Political M/C Alice G. Wells for reasons 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (C) In a March 5 conversation, Deputy Director of the MFA Second Asia Department Ali Mustafabeily dismissed as "ludicrous" possible statements made by Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Kabulov, who reportedly told the press he suspected that U.S. military aircraft were used to ship narcotics out of Afghanistan. Mustafabeily assured us that such comments, which he undertook to verify, "in no way" reflected the GOR position. He underscored that the U.S., Russia, NATO and the CSTO share common interests in fighting terrorism and narcotics trafficking, and ensuring political stability in Afghanistan and Central Asia. ¶2. (C) We also raised the recent press statements by CSTO Secretary General Bordyusha, who reportedly charged that the SIPDIS U.S. had failed to address the narcotics problem in Afghanistan and was instead working to set up rival security structures in the region and "drive a geopolitical wedge between Central Asian countries and Russia to reorient the region towards the U.S." We pointed out that NATO remains unsure of the goals of the CSTO and that statements of this nature complicate possible cooperation (reftel). Mustafabeily asserted that the CSTO did not have to "prove" its legitimacy, underscoring that if the U.S. and NATO insisted on the NATO-Russia Council being the only mechanism for cooperation on Afghanistan "that is your loss." ¶3. (C) On Russia's bilateral cooperation with Afghanistan, Mustafabeily told us that no progress had been made on the Russian offer of military assistance to Afghanistan. The GOA is yet to respond to the Russian request for a list of weapons needed by the Afghan Army or to the invitation for the Afghan Defense Minister to visit Moscow. Mustafabeily acknowledged the possibility that the Karzai Government might not be interested in Russian assistance, but suggested that the U.S. could be pressuring the Afghans not to accept Russia's offer. BURNS