U.S. DEMARCHE ON NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY

UNCLAS STATE 045218 SIPDIS PLEASE SLUG REPLIES TO ISN/MNSA - SCOTT DAVIS / TERRILL RAY / STEVE ADAMS GENEVA FOR CD UNVIE FOR IAEA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENRG KNNP MNUC PARM PREL NPT IAEA SUBJECT: U.S. DEMARCHE ON NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY (NPT) PREPARATORY COMMITTEE MEETING ¶1. This is an action cable. Department requests that action addressees present the points in paragraph 7 as a demarche to appropriate host government officials and report responses. Embassies Buenos Aires, Brasilia, Cairo, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Mexico, Pretoria, Santiago, and Singapore are requested to present points in paragraph 8, in addition to those in para 7. Embassies Beijing, London, Paris, and Moscow are requested to present points in paragraph 9, in addition to those in para 7. Embassy Cairo will receive an additional demarche to Egypt that will be delivered by Septel and should deliver the demarches at the same time. U.S. Mission Geneva is requested to provide the points in paragraph 7 to Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, chairman of the upcoming Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee meeting, for his information. Septel requests delivery of two U.S.-proposed papers on NPT topics, and posts may wish to deliver these messages on the same occasion. These actions are requested by COB Friday, May 2. ¶2. Background: From 28 April until 9 May 2008, NPT parties will convene in Geneva, Switzerland, for the second session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom II) for the 2010 NPT Review Conference (RevCon). The Treaty-established review process will discuss the operation of the Treaty and how best to preserve its integrity and fulfill its purposes. ¶3. The PrepCom convenes in each of the three years prior to the RevCon. The PrepCom is charged with making the necessary procedural arrangements for the RevCon and, if possible, making recommendations to it. PrepCom III will be charged with attempting to make consensus recommendations on matters of substance to the RevCon. ¶4. PrepCom I, held last spring in Vienna, was judged by many states to have been a successful beginning to the new review cycle despite Iran having prevented substantive discussion for nearly a week on procedural grounds related to the agenda for the meeting. The U.S. delegation focused its engagement in PrepCom I on ensuring compliance with the Treaty,s core nonproliferation obligations, expanding peaceful nuclear cooperation in proliferation-responsible ways, deterring withdrawal from the Treaty by treaty violators, and the U.S. record on nuclear disarmament. ¶5. PrepCom II convenes at a time of great challenge to the NPT. Most prominent and pressing among these are Iran's continued defiance of the international community regarding the ongoing and serious concerns about its nuclear program and the DPRK's announcement of withdrawal from the Treaty and detonation of a nuclear device in October 2006. The United States anticipates continued discussion of the issues considered at PrepCom I, particularly the alleged lack of U.S. commitment to disarmament and peaceful nuclear cooperation, and U.S. policy towards the Middle East and India. End Background ¶6. Action Requested: Department requests that action addressee posts deliver the talking points in paragraph 7 to appropriate host government officials by COB Friday, May 2. Please copy the U.S. Delegation to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on all replies. Post may use its discretion to provide the talking points to host government in the form of a non-paper. ¶7. Begin Talking Points for all NPT governments: -- The United States looks forward to discussions with your government and other Parties to the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) at the upcoming NPT Preparatory Committee meeting and throughout the remainder of the 2010 review cycle. -- Preventing and countering the proliferation of nuclear weapons is one of the highest security priorities of the United States, and the NPT is a key element of global nonproliferation strategy. -- The United States is firmly committed to its NPT obligations and will continue to play a leading role in strengthening the nonproliferation regime, including through the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that address the threat of proliferation and noncompliance. -- PrepCom II of the NPT Review Process will convene in Geneva, Switzerland from 28 April to 9 May. We hope it will remain focused on substantive discussion on the most serious challenges facing the NPT. -- The NPT,s primary objective is to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons to additional countries. Yet Iran remains defiant of the international community,s ongoing and serious concerns about its nuclear program, and North Korea has tested a nuclear device it pursued while a Party. Syria continues to deny IAEA attempts to follow-up on evidence of its clandestine nuclear program. Also pressing are concerns relating to clandestine nuclear supply networks and non-state actor interest in acquisition or use of a nuclear weapon. -- We anticipate that parties will use the remainder of the 2010 review process to continue discussions of: Ensuring compliance with the Treaty's nonproliferation obligations; Deterring and responding to Treaty withdrawal by states in violation of their nonproliferation obligations; Achieving universal adherence to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards agreements and the Additional Protocol and making the Protocol part of the standard for international safeguards; Recognizing the need for all states to live up to the strictest standards of safety and security in their peaceful nuclear activities; Supporting the fullest possible cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy; and Explaining the strong U.S. record of accomplishment in fulfilling Article VI of the NPT. -- We would like to draw your attention to the following key points on which the U.S. delegation looks forward to engaging with you further in Geneva. NONPROLIFERATION -- Unaddressed noncompliance with the Treaty,s nonproliferation obligations undermines assurances the Treaty provides against nuclear proliferation, the emergence of new nuclear weapons programs, and the increased threat of nuclear war. Noncompliance also undermines efforts to bring about universal adherence to the Treaty, undermines the foundation of trust upon which the benefits of international nuclear cooperation are necessarily built; and undercuts the aspirations of the international community to nuclear disarmament. -- It is imperative that States Party to the Treaty place at the top of their agenda for PrepCom II, and this review cycle generally, the development and implementation of vigorous and sustained efforts to detect violations of nonproliferation obligations, to return violators to compliance, and to deter future would-be violators from following such a path. -- The United States is committed to the 1995 Resolution in the NPT Review and Extension Conference on the Middle East and its goal of ridding the region of weapons of mass destruction. During this review cycle, NPT parties should address proliferation problems in the Middle East and how to make progress toward the achievement of a comprehensive regional peace. SAFEGUARDS -- The IAEA,s experiences with Iran, North Korea, and Iraq have shown us that safeguards can no longer be concerned with merely tracking declared materials, but must address possible clandestine activities as well. -- NPT parties must respond to these challenges by strengthening the legal structure of safeguards agreements, including the universalization of the Additional Protocol and increasing the technical capabilities of the safeguards system to make it both more effective and efficient. -- Adoption and implementation of a comprehensive IAEA safeguards agreement and the Additional Protocol should become the international safeguards standard. DISARMAMENT -- The U.S. delegation will explain the enduring U.S. commitment to the goals expressed in Article VI and the Preamble to the NPT and our continued progress in reducing our nuclear stockpile, delivery systems, and weapons-grade fissile material reserves, as well as reducing our reliance on nuclear weapons. PEACEFUL NUCLEAR COOPERATION -- The United States has long supported peaceful nuclear cooperation with NPT States Party in compliance with their Treaty obligations and is working with its partners to develop improved technologies and mechanisms to facilitate worldwide expansion and cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. -- The U.S. delegation will stress the nuclear cooperation benefits of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership and the proposals made in 2006 for the creation of a robust and reliable system of nuclear fuel supplies. Such efforts hold out the promise of expanding worldwide nuclear cooperation to the great benefit of all states, while eliminating the need for new countries to develop proliferation-risky fuel-cycle capabilities. End talking points for all NPT governments. ¶8. Begin talking points only for Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Mexico, Pretoria, Singapore, and Santiago -- The United States has long been a staunch supporter of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and remains committed to ensuring full compliance with all its. The United States believes that the most pressing challenge facing the NPT regime today concerns noncompliance with its nonproliferation provisions, but we are also dedicated to making progress on expanded international nuclear, and moving toward the goal of disarmament. -- As we move toward the 2010 NPT Review Conference, it will be important to work together in the 2008 and 2009 PrepComs to narrow remaining differences and resolve as many of them as possible. -- This engagement has included intensified efforts to explain how much we are doing to fulfill the important commitments of Article VI. -- At the upcoming PrepCom, we will be seeking to build consensus on key NPT issues, such as the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and dissuading states from withdrawing from the Treaty. -- We believe that developing broad and explicit agreement on such issues now can provide next year,s PrepCom, and the 2010 Review Conference itself, with good building blocks, for a constructive and achievable consensus Final document in 2010. We hope you will be willing to join us in support of the joint paper drafts we will be circulating on these two topics, and look forward to discussing these matters with you further. End talking points only for Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Mexico, Pretoria, Singapore, and Santiago ¶9. Begin talking points only for Beijing, London, Paris, and Moscow -- We are pleased that our cooperation on NPT matters has intensified since last fall's meeting on the margins of the UN General Assembly's First Committee in New York. We attach considerable importance to P-5 cooperation and unity on NPT matters. -- We appreciate that the UK has drafted and circulated a P-5 statement for the PrepCom. We look forward to working with your delegation to come to agreement on this draft and to coordinate on other NPT matters during the meeting. End talking points only for Beijing, London, Paris, and Moscow RICE NNNN End Cable Text