Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08USOSCE123
2008-05-06 10:56:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Mission USOSCE
Cable title:  

OPEN SKIES TREATY: MAY 5 OSCC PLENARY: RUSSIAN

Tags:  PARM PREL OSCE 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0009
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVEN #0123/01 1271056
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061056Z MAY 08
FM USMISSION USOSCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5705
INFO RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0145
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHMFIUU/HQ USAFE RAMSTEIN AB GE//POLAD/XPXC//
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ5-T/ECCS/ECPLAD//
RUEAHQA/HQ USAF WASHINGTON DC//XONP//
RUEASWA/DTRA ALEX WASHINGTON DC//OSAO
RUESDT/DTRA-OSES DARMSTADT GE
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5-DDPMA-E/DDPMA-IN/CAC//
UNCLAS USOSCE 000123 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR VCI/CCA, EUR/PRA, EUR/RPM, SCA/CEN
JCS FOR COL NORWOOD
OSD FOR ISA (PERENYI)
NSC FOR DOWLEY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PARM PREL OSCE
SUBJECT: OPEN SKIES TREATY: MAY 5 OSCC PLENARY: RUSSIAN
ACCUSATION OF "DOUBLE STANDARD"

UNCLAS USOSCE 000123

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR VCI/CCA, EUR/PRA, EUR/RPM, SCA/CEN
JCS FOR COL NORWOOD
OSD FOR ISA (PERENYI)
NSC FOR DOWLEY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PARM PREL OSCE
SUBJECT: OPEN SKIES TREATY: MAY 5 OSCC PLENARY: RUSSIAN
ACCUSATION OF "DOUBLE STANDARD"


1. (SBU) Summary: At the May 5th Plenary of the Open Skies
Consultative Commission (OSCC),Russia recalled a series of
interventions by the U.S. and other delegations on April 14
that opposed Russia's request for a suspension of Open Skies
missions in the last week of April due to the lack of
accommodations. Russia accused these delegations of treating
the Russian Federation unfairly and using a "double standard"
in comparison to Latvia. Meanwhile, the draft decision on
Revision One to Decision No. 7/07 that updates active quota
distribution has been placed under silence procedure. The
U.S. drew the States Parties' attention to the ongoing
preparation effort to commemorate the completion of the 500th
Open Skies observation flight. The Chairman of the Informal
Working Group on Sensors (IWGS) issued a statement reporting
the failure of the working group to agree to Revision One to
Decision No. 14. Please see paragraphs 8 and 9 for guidance
requests. End Summary.

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Plenary - You Guys Are Mean!
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2. (SBU) The U.S. (Neighbour) chaired the second meeting of
the 46th Session of the OSCC. In response to interventions
by the U.S. and others at the April 14 Plenary against
Russian notification requesting no Open Skies mission
activity during the last week of April (USOSCE 104,
OSCC.DEL/4/08),the Russian representative (Kozlov)
complained that the interventions were "over the top,"
unfair, and harsh. Kozlov stated that Russia knew their
holiday request would impact the Turkish observation flight
and as a result had made bilateral arrangement with Turkey on
April 11 for an alternate overflight schedule. Additionally,
to make up for the week of no activity, Russia agreed to host
two observation flights simultaneously. Russia thought the
intervention was excessive and inconsistent with the
cooperative spirit of the Treaty.


3. (SBU) Recalling a Latvian request in June of 2006 for no
Open Skies activity from November 15 to December 15 due to
the NATO Ministerial, Kozlov wondered why no States Parties
objected to Latvia's request at the time and accused the U.S.
and others of "double-standard." Though annoyed at Russia's

unexpected accusations, Turkey (Guc) confirmed to the Plenary
that Russia and Turkey had successfully entered into a
bilateral arrangement that will compensate Turkey for the
loss of opportunity during the last week of April.

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500th Observation Flight - Let's Focus On The Positives
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4. (SBU) Ignoring Russian provocation, the U.S.
(Silberberg) drew the Plenary's attention to ongoing effort
to commemorate the completion of the 500th observation flight
due to take place on July 14th. Silberberg informed
delegations that according to the U.S. flight tracker
(OSCC.DEL/7/08),as of April 30, States Parties have
completed 460 missions. He called on all to review the
flight tracker and submit inputs as necessary to keep it
accurate. Additionally, Silberberg thanked delegations for
their support and participation in a brainstorming meeting
held on April 15 to plan for the commemoration. He also
thanked the OSCE Press and Public Information Section for
their offer of assistance to the OSCC to organize this
important event. Silberberg asked delegations to review the
summary report detailing the discussion (OSCC.DEL/6/08) and
to join the U.S. at the next informal meeting to be held in
mid-May.


5. (SBU) To formalize the U.S. )- Georgian and the U.S.
)- Poland shared observation flight agreements, the U.S. had
submitted to the Plenary for adoption revision one to the
2008 active quotas distribution decision (OSCC.DD/2/08).
Because Kiev had not sent instructions, the Ukrainian
Delegation could not join consensus. As a result, the
Chairman placed the draft decision for adoption under silence

procedure due to expire on May 13.

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Sensors - Not Going Anywhere Fast
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6. (SBU) The U.S. (Silberberg) delivered the Informal
Working Group on Sensors (IWGS) Chairman's Report to the
Plenary (OSCC.SEN/6/08). IWGS Chairman (Simmons) reported
that the most recent draft of Revision One to Decision 14
could not be moved forward because not all States Parties
have agreed to it. Simmons is currently coordinating with
other IWGS delegations to determine dates for the next
meeting.


7. (SBU) Russia and Turkey reported their flight activities
as well as flights conducted in their countries. All
observation flights were conducted in accordance with
provisions of the Treaty and in the spirit of cooperation.
Additionally, Germany (Ratzlaff) announced that it will
coordinate the 2009 active quotas distribution meetings which
will be held on October 9-10 of this year. The next Plenary
will be on June 2 under the U.S. Chairmanship.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
IWGRP - If It's Not Broken...Don't Fix It
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8. (SBU) Immediately following the Plenary, the Russian
Federation chaired the Informal Working Group on Rules and
Procedures. The main topic up for discussion were Russia's
food for thought paper and draft decisions on alternate
airfields (OSCC.RP/1/08, OSCC.RP/2/08, OSCC.RP/3/08,
OSCC.RP/5/08). Slovakia (Jancovic) made the only
intervention of the meeting stating that designating
alternate airfields would be hard in advance of an
observation mission. Additionally, he feared that
designating alternate airfield would limit the freedom of the
aircraft commander, perhaps leading to an unsafe situation
(OSCC.RP/7/08). In short, Slovakia would prefer to use the
current Open Skies Treaty and the existing relevant
documents. The Russian Chairman (Kozlov) hoped for more
comments and discussion at the next working group meeting to
be held on May 19. USDEL requests guidance from Washington
on the Russian proposals as soon as possible.

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AOB - The Exchange of Letters and the UK...Still Going...
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9. (SBU) Prior to the Plenary, Russian representative
(Kozlov) delivered to USDEL Russia's version of the "Exchange
of Letters." USDEL have sent the document (Russian text and
unofficial English translation) to VCI/CCA for interagency
review. Request further guidance for USDEL to deliver to the
Russian Delegation in order to complete this bilateral
agreement.


10. (SBU) Following the Plenary, UK representative
(MacLeod) informed USDEL (Neighbour/Duong) that the UK has
not made a final decision whether to continue Open Skies
active observation flights. The UK Joint Arms Control
Implementation Group (JACIG) is reviewing its options for
limited active observation flight activities. MacLeod also
expressed appreciation for the recent U.S. demarche
requesting the UK to continue conducting active observation
flights.


11. (SBU) The Netherlands, on behalf of the BENELUX group
of States Parties, delivered to USDEL their response to a
U.S. note verbale in active quota (STATE 22230 - Active Quota
Clarification Note Verbales). In the reply, BENELUX
explained the arrangement they had with Hungary and Russia
during BENELUX's observation flight over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
They emphasized that the observation flight was held in full
accordance with the rules and regulations of the Treaty. The
BENELUX letter has been sent to VCI/CCA.

FINLEY