CANADA WANTS TO COORDINATE SUPPORT FOR GEORGIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 001140 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2018 TAGS: PREL PARM MOPS NATO GG RS CA SUBJECT: CANADA WANTS TO COORDINATE SUPPORT FOR GEORGIA REF: OTTAWA 1137 Classified By: Acting PolMinCouns Kurt van der Walde, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Canada wants to deepen bilateral coordination on support to Georgia. Canadian officials have asked for specific advice regarding the potential deployment of OSCE monitors and separate explosives abatement capability to Georgia. They would also like to coordinate U.S. and Canadian approaches to the conflict at the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) in Geneva, September 1-5. End summary. ¶2. (C) On August 26, DFAIT Senior Coordinator and Director for Mine Action and Small Arms Earl Turcotte told pol/miloff that he had been asked to help coordinate Canadian support to Georgia. Turcotte said that as a result of a discussion that day with officials from State/CRS, DFAIT's Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force (START) was positioning itself to respond to requests for the "quick introduction" of OSCE monitors, and to support efforts to map and remove unexploded ordinance (UXO) in Georgia. To that end, Turcotte said, he would appreciate timely U.S. advice on what specific UXO-related capability Canada ought to deploy to Georgia. Canada also would like access to relevant U.S. UXO assessments, Turcotte added. He remarked that the U.S. had "gotten a jump" on the rest of the world in dealing with UXO in Georgia, but noted that Canada's deployable capability could complement what the U.S., and U.S.-funded NGOs, already have in theater. ¶3. (C) Turning to the Conference on Disarmament (CD) and the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW),Turcotte observed that Russia and Georgia had gone "toe-to-toe" at the CD on August 26, accusing each other of breaches of international law. Turcotte, who is about to travel to Geneva for the September 1-5 CCW, said he expects the "fireworks" to re-ignite there. As head of Ottawa's delegation to the CCW, Turcotte noted that he would like to know whether the U.S. plans to speak about the matter in Geneva. Canada will not raise it if other close allies do not, Turcotte said, but the Canadian delegation would want to complement any U.S. statement with a like-minded statement of its own. ¶4. (C) Action request: Please provide Embassy Ottawa with responses to Turcotte's queries. Visit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/can ada WILKINS