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