KYRGYZ FOREIGN MINISTER CONTEMPLATES INAUGURAL ABC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 001132 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/21/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KG SUBJECT: KYRGYZ FOREIGN MINISTER CONTEMPLATES INAUGURAL ABC MEETING IN WASHINGTON AND PRIME MINISTER MEETING WITH SECRETARY CLINTON REF: BISHKEK 1125 Classified By: Ambassador Tatiana C. Gfoeller, for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On October 16 Ambassador Gfoeller met with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Sarbayev to review his recent meetings in New York and Washington. Sarbayev told the Ambassador that Prime Minister Chudinov wanted to follow-up on the invitation from Secretary Clinton to meet with her in Washington later this year. He wondered whether the U.S. and Kyrgyzstan should hold the inaugural Annual Bilateral Consultations (ABC) in Washington while the Prime Minister is there for the Secretary meeting. Sarbayev told the Ambassador that Kyrgyzstan wants the French and Spanish to operate from the Transit Center at Manas and is ready to negotiate. He added that the departure of the French and Spanish contingents from the Transit Center was due to their lack of commitment to negotiate with Kyrgyzstan like the U.S. did in early 2009. END SUMMARY. ABCs IN WASHINGTON -------------- ¶2. (C) The Ambassador met with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev on October 16 to review his recent trips to New York for the UN General Assembly and Washington for meetings with U.S. government officials. Sarbayev said that he had good, warm meetings in Washington and that he had already briefed President Bakiyev on the positive dialogue with the U.S. He said that the Government of Kyrgyzstan was ready to build on the positive momentum in its relations with the U.S. in the up-coming inaugural Annual Bilateral Consultations (ABCs). ¶3. (C) Sarbayev raised the invitation by Secretary Clinton to Kyrgyz Prime Minister Chudinov on the margins of UNGA to meet again in Washington in mid-December. He said that the Kyrgyz Ambassador to Washington had relayed the invitation and that the Prime Minister and Government of Kyrgyzstan were eager to meet with Secretary Clinton. Sarbayev thought that if the inaugural ABCs were held in Washington instead of Bishkek, the Prime Minister would be able to participate in the ABCs and meet with Secretary Clinton at the same time. Sarbayev indicated that the Kyrgyz government was flexible on the location of the ABCs. SPANISH AND FRENCH AT THE TRANSIT CENTER -------------- ¶4. (C) Turning to the recent departure of the French and Spanish military from the Transit Center, Sarbayev lamented that France and Spain did not show the necessary commitment to finalize agreements with Kyrgyzstan. Sarbayev was confused by the Spanish delegation, noting that he had discussed with both the Spanish Ambassador who visited Bishkek and the Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos in New York at UNGA in September the necessary steps to conclude an agreement. In the end, according to Sarbayev, the Spanish did not follow through on their promise to enlarge the relationship to include non-military aspects. They only sent a military and legal delegation from Spain without a concrete plan and only wanted to sign an agreement without taking time to discuss details (REFTEL). ¶5. (C) Sarbayev also said the Spanish wanted to provide $3 million in "some kind of" assistance but did not provide any details or show any willingness to discuss it. Sarbayev noted that the Spanish Foreign Minister had recently tried to call him in China in a panic to discuss Manas while Sarbayev was on an official visit with the PM, but he had refused to take the call since he was in meetings. In contrast, however, Sarbayev did take a call from Ambassador Gfoeller while in China, signaling the pique he feels for the Spanish and the warm feelings he feels towards the U.S. ¶6. (C) Sarbayev showed the Ambassador official documents from the French, including a draft framework cooperation agreement (dated August 19, 2009) and a draft Transit Center agreement (dated September 30, 2009). The French, however, told the Kyrgyz in a letter with the August documents that they would BISHKEK 00001132 002 OF 002 send a negotiating team to Kyrgyzstan in December, almost two months after the expiration of their current agreement. Sarbayev said he did not understand why the French chose December and added that they should come immediately. Sarbayev speculated that the French lack of serious engagement on Manas might be due to their looking for a quiet way out of their commitments in Afghanistan. VENDOR'S CONFERENCE, EDF, AND NDN -------------- ¶7. (C) The Ambassador and Sarbayev also discussed the October 15 Transit Center "vendors conference," praising its success and noting that more than 200 individuals participated (SEPTEL). The Ambassador gave Sarbayev information on the U.S. companies that have been selected to transport goods and materials through Kyrgyzstan as part of the Northern Distribution Network (NDN). Sarbayev was pleased to receive the information and said that he hoped Kyrgyz companies would actively seek out sub-contracting opportunities. The Ambassador said that the Embassy would pass along any information regarding opportunities to the MFA. The Ambassador asked the Foreign Minister if he had an update on the MOU for the Economic Development Fund that the Embassy had given to the PM's office several weeks ago. The FM said he did not have the latest but would ask the PM on Monday. SUCCESSFUL TRIP TO CHINA -------------- ¶8. (C) Sarbayev briefed the Ambassador on the Prime Minister's official visit to China earlier this week to attend a meeting of the SCO and have bilateral meetings. He bragged that the Prime Minister and the Kyrgyz Government delegation had held many meetings with the highest levels of the Chinese leadership and had signed several bilateral agreements. He said that China will provide a $20 million credit to Kyrgyzstan to finance construction of a road from Bishkek to China. In addition, China gave Kyrgyzstan a grant of $12 million for social and infrastructure projects, including road construction and bus purchases. The Kyrgyz and Chinese also held a business forum where many large Chinese and Kyrgyz companies participated. China is interested in solidifying its relationship with Kyrgyzstan, a key transit country for its goods going to Kazakhstan Russia and Uzbekistan. ¶9. (C) Sarbayev commented that the SCO portion of the trip had also gone "very well." All the Prime Ministers from the participating countries had attended, including Russia's Vladimir Putin. Russia and China had signed a number of very large economic agreements on its margins and the atmospherics had been "very good." COMMENT -------------- ¶10. (C) It does not appear that the Kyrgyz are purposely working against the French and Spanish at the Transit Center. The lack of Transit Center agreements with Spain and France is more the result of a series of miscommunications and misunderstandings which have unfortunately led the Kyrgyz to assume that the French and Spanish do not respect them. Actively pushing the Spanish and French to take the lead in the negotiations with the Kyrgyz may be the only way to break the impasse. GFOELLER