ALLIES SEND A UNIFIED MESSAGE TO RUSSIA IN EAPC

S E C R E T USNATO 000328 NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2018 TAGS: NATO PREL MOPS GG RS SUBJECT: ALLIES SEND A UNIFIED MESSAGE TO RUSSIA IN EAPC Classified By: Charge Bruce Weinrod for reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (S/NF) Summary: At the September 8 meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC),Georgia and Russia traded accusations about who was to blame for the conflict between them. In rare form, Russian Ambassador Rogozin accused the Georgian Mission of organizing protests and threatening Russian diplomatic personnel. Several Allies and Georgia supported an independent investigation of the conflict, while Russia was silent on the issue. Russia suggested inviting South Ossetia and Abhkazia to the next EAPC meeting, but the NATO Secretary General immediately squashed this idea. Allies, joined by invitees Albania and Croatia, sent a strong, unified message to Russia in support of Georgia's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. Allies reaffirmed Ministerial and Ambassadorial-level NAC statements, which condemned the disproportionate Russian use of force and Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Finland, Sweden, Ukraine and Azerbaijan strongly supported the Alliance position. Provoked by the Russian Ambassador's reference to Kosovo, Serbia expressed support for the territorial integrity of all UN and OSCE members, but crowed that Kosovo has clearly opened Pandora's box. Other partners remained silent. After the Russian rant, Lithuania said it was clear that Russia had no regrets for its actions. End Summary. -------------- GEORGIA AND RUSSIA TRADE BODY BLOWS -------------- ¶2. (S/NF) In measured tones, Georgian Ambassador Beshidze said Russia had tried to depose a democratically elected government through its invasion and occupation. He condemned Russian forces and their local proxies for atrocities and ethnic cleansing and informed partners that the Georgian Parliament had terminated the Russian peacekeeping mandate and pulled out of the CIS. Beshidze praised Allied support during the conflict, especially the establishment of the NATO-Georgia Commission. He also said Russian forces had killed a Georgian policeman on September 10. Georgia, supported by several Allies, called for an independent investigation of the causes of the conflict. Russia, however, was silent on the issue. ¶3. (S/NF) Russian Ambassador Rogozin accused the Georgian Mission to NATO of organizing crowds of protesters outside its Embassy, which had threatened the lives of his family and staff. Additionally, he said the Georgian accusations of ethnic cleansing and violations the cease-fire were not true. Claiming the intelligence services of Allies knew exactly who attacked whom, Rogozin argued that Georgia had not tried to disable the Roki tunnel specifically so that Ossetian refugees would be able to flee Georgian ethnic cleansing. Rogozin blamed the U.S. for blocking the political dialogue in the NATO-Russia Council. He also asked how the U.S would feel if the question were raised as to who launched the September 11 attacks. (NOTE: The U.S. had spoken before Rogozin, but Canada condemned Rogozin for the September 11 statement. However, Rogozin's statement was unclear both in Russian and the English translation. End note.) ¶4. (S/NF) Rogozin also tried to dismiss Allied criticism of Russia for deploying disproportionate force by calling attention to the "90 corpses" in Afghanistan reportedly caused by NATO bombing. He stated that in contrast to NATO killing children in Afghanistan, Russian "peacekeepers" were under strict orders and therefore there were no civilian casualties. He also argued that the EU and its observers would be now responsible for Saakashvili's actions. ¶5. (S/NF) Rogozin called on partners to invite South Ossetia and Abhkazia to the next EAPC meeting because they had suffered with "blood and tears." The NATO Secretary General shut down this idea on the spot. Rogozin also urged EAPC members to recognize the independence of the two regions; in response, the Dutch Perm Rep urged members not to recognize the regions. Lastly, Rogozin condemned the NAC visit to Tbilisi as neither timely nor topical and called on Allies to refrain from rearming Georgia. Summing up the Allied position well, the Lithuanian Perm Rep said he was disheartened because Russia had shown no regrets and seemed even more entrenched in its illegal posture. -------------- -------------- ALLIES UNIFIED IN SUPPORT FOR GEORGIA; PARTNERS SILENT -------------- -------------- ¶6. (S/NF) All of the Allies, joined by invitees Albania and Croatia, strongly supported Georgian independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity as well as implementation of the Sarkozy six-point plan in a tour-de-table. Allies universally condemned Russian recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the disproportionate Russian use of force. Allies called for an immediate Russian withdrawal, praised the EU and OSCE diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict, and voiced support for the Bucharest decision on future NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia. Canada called Russian actions "a clear challenge" to the principles upon which the EAPC is based. Turkey briefed on its effort to create a Caucasus stability and cooperation platform to encourage political dialogue in the region and ease tensions, but not to be viewed as an alternative to other organizations. Hungary said it will advance its plans to open its bilateral Embassy in Georgia to show its solidarity. Albania said a country cannot choose its location, but is free to choose its orientation. Italy and Germany said that they hoped to move forward with the NATO-Russia relationship, but that Russian implementation of the cease-fire was a necessary precondition. ¶7. (S/NF) Finland and Sweden, speaking on behalf of the OSCE and Council of Europe respectively, delivered strong statements in harmony with the Allies. In addition, Ukraine and Azerbaijan supported the Allied position. Serbia supported territorial integrity for all UN and OSCE members and supported a diplomatic approach to solve the conflict, but only made this statement after Russia had compared South Ossetia to Kosovo (NOTE: Rogozin said Kosovo was not threatened by Serbia in 2008. End note) With an ominous tone, Serbia declared that Kosovo opened Pandora's box. No Ally or partner spoke in support of Russia. The Central Asian countries, Belarus, and other partners did not intervene. WEINROD