KAZAKHSTAN: UNDER SECRETARY BURNS'S JULY 10 MEETING WITH

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 ASTANA 001164

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/11/2034
TAGS: PREL PHUM KDEM KNNP OSCE AF RS KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: UNDER SECRETARY BURNS'S JULY 10 MEETING WITH
PRESIDENT NAZARBAYEV


1. (S) SUMMARY: Under Secretary Burns brought greetings to President
Nazarbayev from President Obama and underscored the importance of the
U.S.-Kazakhstan relationship by noting Kazakhstan was his
delegation's first stop in Central Asia. He told Nazarbayev that
President Obama is committed to strengthening the U.S.-Kazakhstan
relationship. Burns briefed Nazarbayev on the July 6-7
Obama-Medvedev summit in Moscow. Nazarbayev replied he was pleased
with the summit results, noting, "A good U.S.-Russia relationship is
good for Kazakhstan." Although the delegation's visit to Astana
broke no new ground, the symbolic value of the visit was important
for the government of Kazakhstan, for Central Asia, and for
Kazakhstan's big neighbors, Russia and China. That Burns reiterated
twice, once at the beginning of the meeting and again at the end,
that President Obama is committed to a strong U.S.-Kazakhstan
relationship will pay off significantly, especially if the U.S. side
follows through with greater engagement and reasonably regular very
high-level visits.


2. (S) SUMMARY CONTINUED: Running through his checklist, Nazarbayev

-- said his decision to opt for the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs
Union over WTO accession was an economic, not a political, decision;

-- reiterated his commitment to Central Asian integration but noted
objective realities that have prevented it so far;

-- declared no one wants a nuclear Iran and repeated his willingness
to be helpful on this issue;

-- reaffirmed Kazakhstan's commitment, and intention to increase it,
to humanitarian assistance in the struggle to stabilize and develop
Afghanistan;

-- complimented President Obama's commitment to nuclear
non-proliferation and the U.S. effort to reach a post-START agreement
with Russia;

-- mused on Kazakhstan's possible priorities during its OSCE
chairmanship;

-- called for greater diversification of U.S. investment in
Kazakhstan; and

-- said he hoped President Obama would visit Kazakhstan, "perhaps
during a stop-over on his way to China." END SUMMARY.


3. (C) Under Secretary Burns met with Kazakhstan's President
Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana on July 10. To save time, Nazarbayev
conducted the majority of the meeting in Russian without translation.
Even so, the originally scheduled 30-minute meeting lasted 75
minutes.

U.S. PARTICIPANTS:
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Bill Burns
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs
Robert Blake
Special Assistant to the President and NSC Senior Director for Russia
and Eurasia Mike McFaul
Ambassador Richard Hoagland (notetaker)

KAZAKHSTANI PARTICIPANTS:
President Nursultan Nazarbayev
State Secretary Kanat Saudabayev
Foreign Minister Marat Tazhin
President's Foreign Policy Adviser Kairat Sarybay
Kazakhstan's Ambassador to the United States Erlan Idrisov


4. (C) Welcoming Under Secretary Burns, Nazarbayev noted this was the
first high-level delegation of the new administration in Washington.
Burns said that President Obama sends President Nazarbayev his best
regards, and noted that stopping first in Kazakhstan during his trip
to Central Asia shows the priority President Obama places on the

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U.S.-Kazakhstan relationship.

BURNS BRIEFS NAZARBAYEV ON THE MOSCOW SUMMIT


5. (S) Nazarbayev commented he was pleased with the results of the
July 6-7 Obama-Medvedev summit in Moscow and hoped Burns could
provide frank information about it. He added he had urged both
Russian President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin multiple times,
including as late as the morning of July 6, just hours before Obama's
arrival in Moscow, to seize the opportunity to make the summit a
success, to acknowledge differences but look for areas of agreement
and mutual interest. "A good U.S.-Russia relationship is good for
Kazakhstan," Nazarbayev explained.


6. (S) Burns thanked Nazarbayev for his useful role and told him
President Obama was pleased with his time in Moscow. Burns said that
Obama is determined to strengthen the U.S.-Russia relationship and
that Obama told Medvedev and Putin he wants a relationship of equals
that focuses on common interests. Burns said that the summit
improved the tone of the relationship and had concrete results: a
joint understanding on a post-START agreement by the end of 2009; a
first-ever agreement to transit lethal military supplies through
Russia to Afghanistan; agreement to reestablish military-to-military
relations; and the establishment of a new bilateral commission to
cover a broad range of interests. He added that the two presidents
also discussed the Middle East, non-proliferation in relation to Iran
and North Korea, and Obama's serious review of the technical
efficiency and cost of placing elements of the U.S. missile defense
system in Poland and the Czech Republic. At that point, Nazarbayev
interrupted to say, "That's what most affects Russia." Burns also
reviewed President Obama's long conversation with Prime Minister
Putin on how to avoid future problems in the bilateral relationship,
characterizing Putin as direct and (mostly) constructive. Burns
stressed that significant areas of disagreement remain, such as
Georgia, but summarized the summit as having demonstrated more
attention on both sides to shared interests than we'd seen in several
years. He again thanked President Nazarbayev for his helpful
background role.


7. (S) Nazarbayev thanked Burns for the comprehensive readout and
complimented President Obama for his energy in the first six months
of his administration. Nazarbayev said he wanted to emphasize the
importance of the United States in building strong relations in the
region. On Russia, he said Moscow sees itself as a superpower and
needs to feel needed and respected. It is a nation that historically
suffers and in recent years has felt humiliated. Just its nuclear
weapons and energy resources alone make Russia a superpower, but, he
said, "The United States needs to understand Russia's peculiarities."
Good U.S.-Russia relations help Kazakhstan. Smiling, Nazarbayev
said, "Bureaucrats can cause problems, but leaders must have vision."
Nazarbayev then worked his way through his checklist of issues.

WTO ACCESSION AND THE RUSSIA-BELARUS-KAZAKHSTAN CUSTOMS UNION


8. (S) Nazarbayev said that the fact that Kazakhstan is in the
post-Soviet space inevitably influences its reality and its choices.
He said that joining the customs union was actually his idea and that
it was an economic, not a political, decision. He said he had long
advocated Eurasian economic integration, and the time was now ripe.
"If we harmonize our trade law, investment will flow in. Russia has
roads, railroads, and ports -- we are landlocked and need to take
fullest advantage of existing infrastructure. I'm telling you the
same thing I tell our European partners. After all, a customs union
is nothing special or new -- they exist in many parts of the world."
Burns urged Nazarbayev not to abandon Kazakhstan's bilateral WTO
accession negotiations.

DEMOCRACY AND STABILITY


9. (S) Still thinking of Russia, Nazarbayev explained that Russians
equate democracy with disorder, and that's why both Russia and
Kazakhstan emphasize economic development as a way to increase

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stability. He mused, "Americans can't seem to understand the
experiences we've lived through. Terrorists, extremists,
nationalists -- all can be terribly destabilizing. We need to
rebuild our societies [after the difficult dissolution of the Soviet
Union]. We want stronger relations with the United States."

CENTRAL ASIA


10. (S) Nazarbayev said he remains fully committed to Central Asian
integration, but the difficultly lies in the fact that the region is
"still living out its Soviet contradictions." He cited examples of
current boundaries dividing ethnic groups, and noted in passing that
Uzbekistan's Samarkand is in fact a Tajik city. He added that the
countries of the region have starkly differing levels of political
and economic development, as well as greatly differing populations
and geographies. "Yet our security depends on getting along.
Kazakhstan should be the model because of its multi-ethnic and
multi-confessional harmony. Perhaps our economic integration with
Russia will help."

IRAN


11. (S) Nazarbayev declared that no one wants a nuclear Iran.
However, a war with Iran would be devastating. He summarized that he
has frequently counseled Iran's leaders to follow Kazakhstan's
example in renouncing nuclear ambitions. He praised international
diplomatic efforts to engage Iran, and suggested that Turkey might be
helpful in this regard.

CHINA


12. (S) Nazarbayev pointed out Kazakhstan's long border with China
and noted that many ethnic Kazakhs live in western China. He
acknowledged that western China is currently experiencing
"nationalities problems." He urged the United States to have
"sensitive relations" with China, saying, "The world is a complex
place, but you can play a positive role."

AFGHANISTAN


13. (S) Nazarbayev stated that Kazakhstan wants to be increasingly
helpful in Afghanistan, "especially on the humanitarian side." As he
has said before, he noted that he is uncomfortable with the concept
of "a good Talib and a bad Talib," implying he doubts the wisdom of
President Karzai's desire for reconciliation with the Taliban.
"They're all bad if they are terrorists." Nazarbayev noted the
necessity of security in Afghanistan, if economic and humanitarian
assistance is not to be wasted. But even given the current
conditions, Nazarbayev said, Kazakhstan is prepared to continue, and
to increase, its assistance. He noted briefly that the massive
production of narcotics in Afghanistan is worrying.

NON-PROLIFERATION


14. (S) Nazarbayev complimented President Obama's commitment to
non-proliferation and said he was especially pleased with the
President's Prague speech in April. He noted he has proposed that
the United Nations designate every August 29 as World
Non-Proliferation Day. He acknowledged that Vice President Biden had
invited him to the nuclear security summit in the United States early
in 2010, and said he is pleased the United States is working with
Russia on a new post-START agreement.

OSCE


15. (S) Nazarbayev thanked the United States for supporting
Kazakhstan's 2010 OSCE chairmanship. Listing possible priorities for
the chairmanship year, he said, "We are rich in oil and gas but might
want to promote alternative energy, possibly European security, and
maybe questions of ethnic harmony and accord." Referring to another
possibility of a priority, "frozen conflicts," Nazarbayev said, "The
Georgia-Russia question is difficult, but the independence of Georgia

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is fundamental." (NOTE: Foreign Minister Tazhin has the lead to
develop Kazakhstan's OSCE priorities, and Nazarbayev did not seem to
have been recently briefed on Tazhin's current thinking. END NOTE.)


16. (S) On Kazakhstan's OSCE chairmanship, Burns said the United
States looks forward to working with Kazakhstan closely in the run-up
to the 2010 chairmanship. "This will be a good opportunity to show
further progress on the reforms you've undertaken." He stressed that
it is in Kazakhstan's interest to show further movement on reform and
its Madrid commitments before 2010, and the heightened scrutiny that
the OSCE Chairmanship will bring.

ECONOMIC COOPERATION WITH THE UNITED STATES


17. (C) Nazarbayev judged that U.S.-Kazakhstan economic cooperation
is a success story that has been mutually beneficial. "However," he
suggested, "we need to move forward, step by step, toward
diversification of our investment." He cited the newly opened
General Electric locomotive plant in Astana as a success story for
diversification, and added, "It will create many jobs."


18. (S) In summing up, Burns said he wanted to repeat that President
Obama is committed to strengthening the U.S.-Kazakhstan relationship.
Nazarbayev quipped, "Maybe he could stop in Kazakhstan on his way to
China."


19. (S) COMMENT: It is clear Nazarbayev was eager to meet with the
Burns delegation because he changed his usually immutable summer
vacation schedule twice to accommodate the delegation's complex
itinerary. Although the delegation's visit to Astana broke no new
ground, it was important for the government of Kazakhstan, for
Central Asia, and for Kazakhstan's big neighbors, Russia and China.
That Burns reiterated twice, once at the beginning of the meeting and
again at the end, that President Obama is committed to a stronger
U.S.-Kazakhstan relationship will pay off, especially if the U.S.
side follows through with greater engagement and reasonably regular
very high-level visits. END COMMENT.

HOAGLAND