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