NO PUTIN-VORONIN DEAL ON TRANSNISTRIA, SAYS GOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 000882 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/31/2018 TAGS: PREL PINR PBTS OSCE MD RS SUBJECT: NO PUTIN-VORONIN DEAL ON TRANSNISTRIA, SAYS GOR REF: MOSCOW 805 Classified By: Political M/C Alice G. Wells. Reasons 1.4 (B/D). ¶1. (C) Both MFA Transnistria negotiator Valeriy Nesterushkin and Second CIS Department Director Viktor Sorokin denied an impending Putin - Voronin deal to resolving the Transnistria conflict (reftel). On March 27, Nesterushkin told us that there was no change in the GOR position: without the two partners in conflict negotiating directly, there would be no resolution. Nesterushkin, lamenting the "missed opportunity" for a 5 plus 2 meeting during the OSCE Madrid Ministerial in November last year, argued that the negotiation process would work not through intimidation and pressure but through engagement. He informed us that Smirnov had not replied to a possible 5 plus 2 meeting in Odessa in April 14-16. ¶2. (C) Per Nesterushkin, the change in the negotiation teams, including DAS Kramer's departure, Ukraine's Veselovskiy's move to Brussels, the cabinet shuffle in Moldova, and Transnistria's April 2 confidence vote on "FM" Litskai, could further complicate the situation and delay the launch of a 5 plus 2 meeting. Nesterushkin saw only one option between Voronin, who wants to impose Moldova's constitution on Transnistria, and Smirnov, who wants independence -- a form of federation in order to seek a model of co-existence. He advised against an "erroneous" idea that once agreed with Putin, all deals were good for Smirnov. ¶3. (C) Sorokin echoed Nesterushkin, saying that there was no new development on the Transnistrian front and predicted that more serious moves would happen only after the early May presidential inauguration. BURNS