UNDER SECRETARY TAUSCHER DISCUSSES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 001271 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/21/2019 TAGS: PARM PREL XF EUN ETTC SUBJECT: UNDER SECRETARY TAUSCHER DISCUSSES NON-PROLIFERATION AND DISARMAMENT ISSUES WITH THE EU BRUSSELS 00001271 001.6 OF 003 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Christopher Murray for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On September 1, during her first trip to Europe as Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Ellen Tauscher held separate meetings on non-proliferation and disarmament issues with the EU's envoy for non-proliferation, Annalisa Giannella, EU Council Director-General for External and Political-Military Affairs, Robert Cooper, and over an official lunch with the 27 EU Member State Political and Security Council (PSC) Ambassadors. Topics included Iran (reported septel),North Korea (DPRK),the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT),Strategic Arms Reductions Talks (START),the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT),ongoing U.S. policy reviews, and negotiations on language for a U.S.-EU summit declaration on non-proliferation. Our interlocutors almost universally welcomed President Obama's personal engagement on non-proliferation and disarmament, citing the Prague speech and the upcoming UNSC meeting on the margins of UNGA. The discussions demonstrated that the EU is deeply and collectively engaged on each of these issues, and that they are seeking our cooperation in moving our common agenda forward. Both sides agreed that a return visit will be in order after the U.S. concludes its policy reviews. End Summary. DPRK: NOT COMPROMISING ON SIX PARTY TALKS ¶2. (C) On DPRK, U/S Tauscher emphasized that the United States is committed to the Six Party Talks and will not allow any bilateral engagement with North Korea to peel us away from our regional partners. She stressed that we need to see a radical change in the North Korean regime's approach, and that we will not reward them for one minute of good behavior after months of bad behavior. Giannella said she had traveled to the DPRK in 2007 and found it deprived and depressing -- "the worst country I have ever seen." She also said the EU is committed to supporting the Six Party Talks from the outside During the PSC lunch, the Greek ambassador sked how the international community will be able to judge if the DPRK is willing to return to negotiations, while Austria emphasized that tailored sanctions are only effective if accompanied by talks, asking for details on any new designations. U/S Tauscher responded that it is difficult to say what would bring the DPRK back to negotiations, since the regime does not seem to respond to the standard levers of influence. She said the restrictive measures in UNSCR 1874 may be causing recent positive gestures, but warned against being fooled by these potentially fleeting moments of rapprochement. PREPARING FOR THE NPT REVIEW CONFERENCE ¶3. (C) Giannella and PSC ambassadors expressed strong interest in our approach to the NPT Review Conference (RevCon),especially how to avoid getting bogged down in discussions of a nuclear weapon free zone in the Middle East. Tauscher reiterated our commitment to all three pillars of the NPT. She expressed our support for a Middle East nuclear weapon free zone, but said the United States will emphasize -- especially with Egypt -- that discussions of the Middle East and nuclear weapons should focus on Iran rather than Israel. Senior Advisor James Timbie noted that the Egyptians have told us that they consider their approach last year a mistake, while Tauscher emphasized that that during her meeting with the Egyptian foreign minister, he said Egypt had not yet decided how to proceed at the IAEA General Conference and at the RevCon. ¶4. (C) Both during her private meeting with U/S Tauscher and at the PSC lunch, Giannella said the EU, through its Paris-based think tank, had organized a conference on the BRUSSELS 00001271 002.6 OF 003 issue of nuclear security in the Middle East as a way to move this issue forward. She said the EU is prepared to organize a second workshop, speculating that it might be worthwhile to hold it in Cairo with Egypt as a partner. Over lunch, the Spanish PSC ambassador reiterated the EU's commitment to a second seminar. Germany praised President Obama's commitment to all three NPT pillars. Germany said the West must now convince the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to ratify the Additional Protocol and to support multilateral fuel assurances, while moving beyond the Middle East issue and coming to a common understanding on withdrawal from the Treaty. U/S Tauscher responded by stressing the need to build on the momentum of the Prague and Cairo speeches and the successful NPT Preparatory Conference. She said we need to assure countries that they can have access to civilian nuclear power without needing to seek enrichment, pointing to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 123 Agreement as a step in the right direction. European Commission Director Richard Wright emphasized the Commission's support for multilateral assurances and asked how to move forward. Giannella stressed the importance of finding at least one NAM country to agree to rely on multilateral fuel assurances. Timbie agreed with this suggestion, saying the U.S. and EU should support Angarsk as the most mature current project. If Angarsk is fully approved at the November IAEA Board of Governors, we can use it as a model to improve the provisions of the IAEA nuclear fuel bank. CTBT RATIFICATION: HOW THE EU CAN HELP ¶5. (C) EU officials expressed widespread support for President Obama's commitment to ratification of the CTBT. Swedish Ambassador Olaf Skoog noted the EU's commitment to CTBT and funding of the CTBT Organization (CTBTO). He also said that Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt will speak at the upcoming Article 14 conference. France announced that as co-host of that conference with Morocco, it is seeking ministerial level attendance. Finland asked about the U.S. political process on CTBT ratification and how the EU can help. In their private meeting, Giannella also offered EU support. ¶6. (C) U/S Tauscher said the key is to develop a new narrative about CTBT that convinces fence-sitting Senators to support ratification. Part of that narrative must be international support for the CTBT. She said the EU can voice that support and emphasize how U.S. ratification could convince other nations to ratify. She also emphasized President Obama's commitment to get the public engaged on issues like CTBT, rather than leaving the discussion to political elites. She counseled patience, saying the administration will need to take the issue to the Senate only when a win is assured. FMCT: GETTING PAKISTAN TO STOP OBSTRUCTING ¶7. (C) Annalisa Giannella, along with Ambassadors from Germany and Italy, raised Pakistan blocking progress in the Conference on Disarmament on a verifiable FMCT, asking how we can clear the way for greater progress. Swedish Ambassador Skoog said Sweden had raised the issue with Pakistan's foreign minister. U/S Tauscher agreed that the Pakistani position has slowed progress, saying the USG has FMCT on its long list of priorities for engagement with Pakistan. Giannella said the EU is in the midst of a new strategy paper on Pakistan, but non-proliferation issues are not getting much attention in the current draft, an issue she is trying to correct. She is also engaging the IAEA quietly about what the EU can do to help Pakistan with the security of its nuclear materials. This is a sensitive issue for the EU, since Pakistan is not a nuclear weapons state under the NPT. Tauscher noted that this issue could be taken up during the nuclear security summit next March. BRUSSELS 00001271 003.6 OF 003 START ¶8. (C) U/S Tauscher described the START negotiations as the first step toward reaching President Obama's long-term goal of the elimination of nuclear weapons, noting that a new round of negotiations was beginning the same day in Geneva. She said that the congressionally mandated Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) is reinforcing the U.S. approach to START negotiations. She said the NPR process has been structured to address issues central to the START negotiations first, to allow both processes to move forward simultaneously. She noted that Presidents Obama and Medvedev had spoken in the last few weeks about the issue. The goal is to narrow the bands established by the joint understanding issued in Moscow and to sign a new treaty by December 5. She said the new treaty would have legally binding arrangements that will help bridge the gap between the signing and Senate and Duma ratification. During the lunch, the Netherlands said the United States and Russia had laid out a logical but ambitious schedule for negotiations. France asked for further information on the inclusion of conventional warheads and stockpiled warheads in the negotiations, as well as on the verification regime. Senior Advisor James Timbie said the new START would focus on nuclear rather than conventional weapons, and that stockpiled weapons would be dealt with by limits on delivery systems. Discussions on verification, he said, were just beginning in Geneva. POLICY REVIEWS ONGOING ¶9. (C) Annalisa Giannella, as well as PSC ambassadors from Poland, Finland, and Greece, asked whether the U.S. position on a legally binding Arms Trade Treaty was likely to change, to which U/S Tauscher and Timbie responded that the USG is reviewing its position, and that we are prepared to listen to the EU's arguments, as long as the treaty does not undercut the Wassenaar Arrangement or the right to bear arms. In response to questions about ballistic missile defense, U/S Tauscher said the ongoing policy revieON Q cuss issues the EU would like to see included in the declaration. She said the EU would be prepared to discuss language during the September 9 non-proliferation and disarmament troika with the U.S. U/S Tauscher welcomed an exchange of ideas on summit language, noting that we will need to move quickly to finalize a declaration by November. She asked Giannella to have the EU organize its "wish list" into must haves and nice-to-haves. ¶11. (U) Under Secretary Tauscher has cleared this cable. MURRAY .