MISSILE DEFENSE AGREEMENT INITIALLED AD REF

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 000963

SIPDIS

STATE FOR PM, EUR AND ISN
SECDEF FOR DASD FATA
EUCOM FOR EC-J5

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/13/2018
TAGS: PEL MARR MASS MCAP PL
SUBJECT: MISSILE DEFENSE AGREEMENT INITIALLED AD REF

Classified By: Charge Pamela Quanrud for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) After two days of talks between Polish and U.S.
delegations, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer and Under
Secretary John Rood initialled ad referendum a Missile
Defense agreement and a bilateral Declaration of Strategic
Cooperation on August 14. FM Sikorski, who took part in two
one-on-one sessions with U/S Rood, expressed appreciation for
U.S. responsiveness to his written proposal of July 7, which
called for continuous deployment of a battery of Patriot
Missiles in Poland and enhanced security guarantees. At a
champagne toast for both delegations, Sikorski said how
pleased PM Tusk is with the agreement, and suggested that the
Secretary could join him in signing the agreement during a
visit to Warsaw.


2. (C) The Polish delegation in the talks, led for the most
part by Deputy FM Kremer, initially sought language in the
agreement referring to a transition toward the "permanent"
stationing of equipment and personnel in the Patriot battery.
Kremer said the GoP needed such language to reassure the
public that a planned rotational deployment, as reported
widely in the press, would become a permanent garrison. U/S
Rood ultimately persuaded the Poles that it would be unusual
for Allied militaries to spell out in an agreement the
procedures to be followed in order to maintain the Patriots'
readiness. The U.S. delegation finally won Polish agreement
to a streamlined paragraph describing the creation of a
garrison, by noting that a garrison is by definition a
permanent presence. Rood advised that the sides need not
describe all technical management issues, but as needed,
senior Polish officials could brief parliament and the public
on general deployment arrangements. The sides agreed on the
importance of a coordinated public diplomacy campaign,
including the publication of fact sheets and general
descriptions of the agreement.


3. (C) At the Poles' request, the U.S. side agreed to
additional language concerning potential liabilities
resulting from collateral damage. The sides agreed that the
U.S. would give "sympathetic consideration" to a request from
Poland for reimbursement of a final judgment against Poland
resulting from the firing of an interceptor missile from
Polish territory. In addition, the two delegations agreed
that the parties could amend the base map, if needed, by
entering into a technical implementing arrangement for that
purpose, which would not require parliamentary ratification.


4. (C) The ongoing crisis in Georgia cast a long shadow
over the talks, and a visibly exhausted FM Sikorski had to
retire early from the first evening's talks, after trips to
Tbilisi and the GAERC session on Georgia in Brussels. Deputy
Defense Minister Stanislaw Komorowski said events in Georgia
demonstrate that the threat from Russia is more immediate
than U.S. assessments indicate. In view of that threat, the
Poles called for the greatest possible U.S. contribution to
Polish defense modernization efforts, particularly air
defense. Rood emphasized to FM Sikorski on the first day of
talks that in the current tense climate, a U.S.-Polish MD
agreement would send a strong message to Moscow in the form
of a new, deepened strategic relationship between two key
Allies.


5. (U) This message has been cleared by U/S Rood.

QUANRUD