ROMANIAN REACTION TO RUSSIAN DRAFT TREATY FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUCHAREST 000831 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CE ASCHEIBE/MLIBBY E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2019 TAGS: NATO PREL RS RO SUBJECT: ROMANIAN REACTION TO RUSSIAN DRAFT TREATY FOR NATO-RUSSIA COUNCIL REF: A. USNATO 579 ¶B. SECSTATE 127435 Classified By: DCM Jeri Guthrie-Corn, reasons 1.4(b)&(d) ¶1. (C) PolMilOff was summoned December 11 by MFA Security Policy Director Daniel Ionita to discuss the draft Treaty Governing Relations Among NATO-Russia Council (NRC) Member States, presented by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov at the December 4 NATO-Russia Council Ministerial (reftels). Ionita said the Government of Romania saw the document as simply an attempt to repackage the Russian proposal for a European Security Treaty. The GOR believed that either proposed Treaties would benefit Russia without any visible advantages to NATO Member States. ¶2. (C) Ionita said the GOR believed the proposed treaty undermined the central role of the OSCE in ensuring peace and stability in Europe, was detrimental to the Corfu Process and could allow Russia to bypass its CFE commitments. Ionita suggested that Russia should be encouraged to implement first the extant decisions from the previous NRC Ministerial, such as the Joint Review of 21st Century Common Security Challenges and the NRC Work Plan for 2010, before proposing any new legal documents. Ionita recommended that the NATO SYG emphasize this message during his upcoming trip to Moscow, December 15-17. GITENSTEIN