KAZAKHSTAN: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES BILATERAL

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 000983 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, ISN, EUR/RPM, CA/OCS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2034 TAGS: PREL PINR MNUC CASC KNNP NATO KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES BILATERAL RELATIONS, BN-305 FUNDING, SHARP CASE WITH PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR SARYBAY REF: A. STATE 56723 ¶B. STATE 54767 ¶C. ASTANA 0956 ¶D. ASTANA 0957 Classified By: Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (S) SUMMARY: On June 5, the Ambassador delivered demarches on a possible Kazakhstani arms sale to Syria and on U.S.-Russian discussions on the transit of lethal supplies to Afghanistan to Presidential Foreign Policy Advisor Kairat Sarybay (see reftels),and briefed Sarybay on his recent visit to Washington, upcoming high-level U.S. visits to Astana, the BN-350 plutonium reactor decommissioning program, the case of Peace Corps Volunteer Anthony Sharp, and President Obama's June 4 speech in Cairo. The Ambassador also handed Sarybay a copy of a letter from him to President Nazarbayev, thanking Nazarbayev for Kazakhstan's ratification of the Cooperative Threat Reduction umbrella agreement. After the Ambassador raised all of his agenda items, Sarybay said he had "one small request" and asked whether the United States had delivered a demarche on the Rakhat Aliyev case to the government of Austria. The Ambassador unequivocally denied that such a demarche had taken place, and said the U.S. government has no interest in becoming involved in the dispute between Aliyev and President Nazarbayev. END SUMMARY. CONSULTATIONS AND CONFERENCES ¶2. (C) Sarybay met the Ambassador in his office, a modest room in the regal Presidential Administration building. Daulet Kussainov, a young diplomat who had just returned from four years in Brussels, served as Sarybay's notetaker. The Ambassador told Sarybay that he had just returned from consultations in Washington, and said he hoped that Foreign Minister Tazhin was pleased with the results of his visit to Washington. The Ambassador informed Sarybay that EUR Assistant Secretary Gordon would likely lead the U.S. delegation to the June 24-25 Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) Security Forum event in Astana. Sarybay immediately responded, "But we were expecting (Under Secretary) Burns to visit." UPCOMING HIGH-LEVEL VISITS ¶3. (C) The Ambassador explained that Under Secretary Burns would prefer to visit Astana immediately following the July 7-8 Medvedev-Obama summit in Moscow, in order to provide an immediate readout of the summit directly to Kazakhstani officials. Furthermore, the Ambassador said, if U/S Burns were to visit during the EAPC Security Forum, his schedule and his message would be crowded and constrained by the demands of the conference. Sarybay said he understood, but he also told the Ambassador that a meeting with President Nazarbayev on July 9 might be "difficult," because President Nazarbayev usually takes vacation immediately following the annual Astana Day celebrations on July 6. Nevertheless, Sarybay said he would discuss the issue with "my boss" (President Nazarbayev) and hoped a meeting could be arranged. The Ambassador thanked Sarybay and informed him of two other upcoming, high-level visits in July -- by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen (mid-July) and CENTCOM Commander General Petraeus (late July). Sarybay said he would try to schedule meetings for them with President Nazarbayev and called the previous meeting with General Petraeus "very productive and fruitful." COOPERATIVE THREAT REDUCTION AND THE BN-350 PROGRAM ¶4. (C) The Ambassador thanked Sarybay for his government's leadership and partnership on nuclear nonproliferation ASTANA 00000983 002 OF 003 issues, particularly President Nazarbayev's decision on June 2 to sign legislation ratifying the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Umbrella Agreement. The Ambassador handed Sarybay a copy of a letter from him to President Nazarbayev thanking Nazarbayev for signing the legislation, and said the original would be sent via a Diplomatic Note. The Ambassador then said the United States appreciated the Kazakhstani government's commitment to fund part of the BN-350 program to ensure the safe transportation and storage of spent fuel from the decommissioned plutonium breeder reactor. He told Sarybay that Minister of Economy Sultanov had informed him that $5 million for the program was available in 2009 via extra budgetary reserves, and that Ministry of Energy Mynbayev simply had to request the funds through the proper channels. Unfortunately, however, the Ministry of Energy's subsequent request for funding was denied. The Ambassador delivered a non-paper to Sarybay on the subject and asked for his assistance in securing the necessary funding. Sarybay said he would look into the matter and joked, "You seem to know better than me and Minister Mynbayev what is in our budget reserves!" PEACE CORPS CASE ¶5. (C) The Ambassador thanked Sarybay for his assistance and discretion in expediting the resolution of the ongoing case of Peace Corps volunteer Anthony Sharp, who was convicted of unlawful possession of industrial explosives on February 26. Sarybay told the Ambassador that "there is a real political intention to solve this case. We hope that you can see that our bureaucracy handled the issue properly. No one can say that Kazakhstan is not running according to the rule of law." While carefully stating that he did not expect there to be any quid pro quo, Sarybay said that, in light of Kazakhstan's assistance with the Sharp case, if Kazakhstani citizens living in the United States find themselves in similar circumstances in the future, "we hope that they will be treated fairly." Sarybay also told the Ambassador that some influential members of the government had wanted to require the U.S. Attorney General to send a letter to Kazakhstan's Procurator General, requesting assistance with Sharp's case. Sarybay, however, said that he had argued successfully against that, saying it would be an additional precondition for Sharp's release and would come as a surprise to the U.S. government. Sarybay suggested that the Ambassador draft a thank you letter to Foreign Minister Tazhin that would thank the government for its support and cooperation and note that "everything was done properly and correctly" concerning the case. The Ambassador said he already had a draft thank-you letter prepared and would send it as soon as Sharp left Kazakhstan. (NOTE: On June 3, the appellate court in Ust-Kamenogorsk accepted the procurator's motion to reduce Sharp's sentence to "time served" and a fine (which he has already paid). Barring any additional bureaucratic hurdles, we expect Sharp to depart Kazakhstan on June 11. END NOTE). PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SPEECH WELL RECEIVED ¶6. (C) The Ambassador asked Sarybay if he or President Nazarbayev had had time to read the President's speech in Cairo. Sarybay said he had delivered the text of the speech to President Nazarbayev on June 4 and President Nazarbayev was looking forward to reading it. (NOTE: On June 8, the Presidential Administration released the following statement from President Nazarbayev: "In his speech in Cairo, President Obama demonstrated his willingness to build understanding and rapport with the Muslim world. I am encouraged by this constructive engagement by the U.S. President. Kazakhstan looks forward to continuing its efforts to strengthening political, economic, and cultural cooperation with the United States. There is a stark ASTANA 00000983 003 OF 003 distinction between leaders who pursue violence and engender fear and those thoughtful leaders who are willing to engage in an effort to make the world safer, freer, and more prosperous. In his speech, President Obama made it clear that he understands that distinction well, and I am encouraged by the invitation to join him." END NOTE). ONE FINAL REQUEST ¶7. (C) Just as the meeting adjourned, Sarybay said he had "one small request" for the Ambassador. He said, "We have information that the United States delivered a demarche or a diplomatic note on the Rakhat Aliyev case to the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vienna. Is that true?" The Ambassador strongly and unequivocally denied that the U.S. government delivered any such demarche and said the U.S. government has no interest in becoming involved in the dispute between Aliyev and President Nazarbayev. Sarybay waited one full second, then smiled and thanked the Ambassador for taking the time to pay him a visit. HOAGLAND