CFE/JCG: OCTOBER 7 PLENARY MORE OF THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L USOSCE 000240

SIPDIS

STATE FOR VCI/CCA, EUR/RPM, EUR/PRA,
NSC FOR HAYES, JCS FOR J5/NORWOOD/CAMPBELL,
OSD FOR ISA/PERENYI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2018
TAGS: KCFE OSCE PARM PREL
SUBJECT: CFE/JCG: OCTOBER 7 PLENARY MORE OF THE
SAME--MEMBER STATES PROTEST RUSSIA,S CONTINUED REFUSAL TO
ALLOW INSPECTIONS

Classified By: Chief Arms Control Delegate Hugh Neighbour,
for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: During the October 7 JCG Plenary,
Slovakia, the United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic,
supported by Romania, France, the United States, Turkey,
Portugal, Italy, and Germany, protested Russia,s latest
refusals to allow inspections and called on Russia to resume
implementation of the CFE Treaty. Russia reiterated that it
stands ready to work together in official meetings, implying
that recently everything else has been happening in the
corridors, or on the margins of official meetings. This
plenary was one of the shortest in recent months. The only
substantive issue of note was Russia,s refusals of
inspections. The JCG-T plus 4 saw more action as Allies
noted trouble with the draft letter to the Finish CIO for the
OSCE Ministerial Council. End summary.


2. (SBU) The Netherlands chaired the October 7 JCG Plenary.
In the now routine protests, Slovakia, the United Kingdom,
and the Czech Republic voiced their "regret," and
"disappointment" at the recent Russian refusals of the three
CFE inspection requests. Slovakia (Jancovic) commented that
Russian non-implementation did not contribute to the CFE
regime. The U.K. (Gare) and Czech Republic (Reinohlova)
voiced their continual support for the CFE Treaty referring
to it as the "cornerstone" of European security. Romania,
France, the United States, Turkey, Portugal, Italy, and
Germany supported the interventions by the three offended
States Parties.


3. (SBU) Russian Chief Arms Control Delegate Ulyanov seemed
a bit tongue in cheek in responding to the protests. He
congratulated JCG colleagues for having reverted to the
procedures that prevailed in 2004 and 2005 when JCG meetings
were short and concise with little substantive discussion and
more a simple run-through of checking off agenda items.
Ulyanov surmised that the brevity of meetings then was
probably because "CFE was functioning well" and there was
little to discuss. He noted that currently the "only problem
is with inspections" and that "everything else is running
smoothly." Ulyanov characterized recent CFE discussion with
Assistant Secretary Fried as a "corridor" conversation, and
suggested that Russia stands ready and available to have
real, substantive meetings if others are willing.


4. (SBU) Under the topic of any other business, the chair
relayed to delegations that Finland, as OSCE Chair, has
informed him that the Ministerial Declaration will not be
discussed in Vienna but will be handled by capitals.

JCG-T plus 4: Allies to Continue Review of Draft Letter from
the JCG-Chair for Helsinki Minsterial


5. (C) During the JCG-T plus 4, which met a day prior to
the JCG Plenary, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, and the Czech
Republic gave heads up that they would raise Russia,s
refusals of their countries, notifications to inspect. The
Dutch Chair (Kleinjan) turned the discussion to consideration
of a letter drafted by the current Dutch chair and the two
forthcoming chairs of the JCG and intended to inform the CIO
of JCG activities. The Dutch chair had circulated the draft
letter for review by Allies on October 3. Kleinjan noted
the particular difficulty in coming to consensus on the
letter, noting that the JCG had not agreed on a draft in the
last six years. He informed the group that the drafters had
decided to keep the letter as short and factual as possible,
hoping to raise the probability of achieving consensus. He
also referred to paragraph 2 of the draft letter that
reiterates exact language that Ulyanov used during his
December 18, 2007 intervention in the JCG on suspension of
the CFE Treaty. Kleinjan suggested that while the JCG does
not recognize the notion of suspension, the draft letter
contained such a phrase since it had come directly from
Ulyanov himself.


6. (C) Several delegations thanked the Chair for its work


on the draft letter. Canada noted that under its
chairmanship last year the JCG failed to reach consensus on
the letter largely due to the UTLE (unaccounted for treaty
limited equipment) issue between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Romania suggested that the letter is premature until a common
position in the JCG on how to approach Russia with respect to
CFE has been reached. Romania reminded delegates of the
upcoming October 16 HTLF and November retreat and noted that
we should first see how these events turn out. Additionally,
Romania suggested that although the current draft is factual,
it does not adequately reflect what the JCG has done in past
years. The Czech Republic noted its support for Romania's
position.


7. (C) The U.S. (Silberberg) thanked the Dutch Chair and
echoed support for the comments made by Romania and the Czech
Republic that it may be too early to table a decision on the
letter. Despite the earliness of the letter, the U.S.
offered to make preliminary comments on the text of the
letter if other delegations wanted to hear them. The group
expressed interest in hearing the U.S. comments now. The
U.S. noted that the letter was a good start -- short, and
factual -- but that it may be more important to accurately
reflect JCG activities rather than submit a short, albeit
factual, statement simply because it may be easier to achieve
consensus on a shorter statement. In referring to the
Adapted CFE Treaty, the U.S. asserted that the letter must
mention the Istanbul Commitments and said it was open to
other delegations on innovative language. The U.S. lastly
noted that not much progress had been made in the TOI.


8. (C) The Dutch Chair noted that the longer the draft
letter becomes, the less likely it will be to reach consensus
on its content. The Chair said it would not put forth the
letter at the October 7 Plenary but would take the U.S.
comments into consideration and circulate a revised version
for consideration at the next JCG-T meeting.


10. (C) Under the topic of any other business, the Dutch
chair reminded delegates that the last Plenary meeting
(November 25) will take place right before the Helsinki
Ministerial and is under Russian chairmanship. He noted that
delegations might want to consider creative ways (i.e., other
events that coincide) to postpone, or skip, the last JCG
Plenary. He also noted that the Finnish chair of the OSCE
had requested capitals, not Vienna, to handle discussions on
the Ministerial Declaration.


11. (U) The next JCG Plenary, to be chaired by Norway, will
take place on Tuesday, October 14. The next JCG-T on October
13 will be chaired by Greece.
FINLEY