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.

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GEORGIA AND RUSSIA TRADE BODY BLOWS
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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.

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ALLIES UNIFIED IN SUPPORT FOR GEORGIA; PARTNERS SILENT
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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