AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES TRANSNISTRIA TANKS

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 CHISINAU 000939

NOFORN

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/UMB

E.O. 12958; DECL: 12/04/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PINR RS MD
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES TRANSNISTRIA TANKS
AND MUNITIONS WITH ACTING PRESIDENT GHIMPU

Classified by: Ambassador Asif J. Chaudhry for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (S/NF) Summary: The Ambassador, accompanied by
the Defense Attache, met with Speaker and Acting
President Mihai Ghimpu on November 17 to respond
to a request from Ghimpu to ascertain whether
reports regarding the mobilization of
Transnistrian tanks and the distribution of
Russian arms and ammunition in Transnistria were
accurate. The Ambassador told the Acting President
that we believed the tanks, whose presence was
well known, and the alleged ammunition delivery to
be insignificant for military action. Ghimpu
accepted the assessment, but expressed concern
that the Russians were planning unspecified
provocations to justify their continued presence
in Transnistria. End Summary.

Tanks and Ammunition
--------------


2. (S/NF) On November 10, Acting President Ghimpu
told the Ambassador that the Moldovan Security and
Information Service (SIS) had alleged both a
Russian supply of ammunition and weapons to
Transnistrian irregular troops and the presence of
twenty tanks in village of Vladimorovca, east of
Tiraspol. Ghimpu asked the Ambassador to
ascertain both the validity and seriousness of the
reported information.


3. (S/NF) In the November 17 meeting, the Ambassador
told Ghimpu that we believed that the presence of
Transnistrian tanks and alleged quantities of
Russian ammunition and weapons supplied from
Colbasna was insignificant. The fact that the
tanks were in Transnistria was not new
information. In addition, we viewed the
distribution of Russian-supplied armaments as
insignificant for military activity.

Russian Provocations
--------------


4. (S/NF) Ghimpu said he agreed with the
assessment, but he added that he was Qabsolutely
certainQ the Russians were planning some sort of
provocation to destabilize the region, especially
in light of Alliance for European Integration's
(AIE) calls for the replacement of the Russian
peacekeeping mission with an impartial, third-
party organization. Ghimpu opined that the
rumored Russian-supplied armaments, although
numerically small, may have actually occurred and
were distributed to encourage individuals and
paramilitary forces to conduct provocations along
lines of the grenade attack which occurred in
Chisinau on October 14, 2009.


5. (S/NF) Ghimpu said he believed the Russians
could then use such attacks and the discovered
presence of such hazardous ammunition as
justification for the continuation of the Russian
peacekeeping presence. He offered an example of a
recent Russian "provocation" where Russian
Ambassador Kuzmin asked a group of
parliamentarians, including Ghimpu, whether or not
Ghimpu would attend the Black Sea Summit. Ghimpu
said he declined to answer since he believed the
Summit was not appropriate for a president to
attend. Both the Ambassador and Ghimpu agreed
that GhimpuQs lack of reaction sent a non-
provocative reply to the Russians. Ghimpu said
that ultimately only time would reveal Russian
strategy, and that the Alliance would need to
remain vigilant.


6. (S/NF) Ghimpu also said some other Alliance
leaders knew about the SIS information reported
above, but that Deputy Prime Minister Victor
Osipov had deliberately withheld the information
from Prime Minister Vlad Filat. Ghimpu also said
he would pass any additional information about
Russian activities to the Ambassador.

Presidential Vote and Possible New Constitution
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7. (S/NF) The Ambassador then asked about the
progress regarding the presidential vote. Ghimpu
believed that the Alliance would not obtain enough
votes to elect a president and that only changes
to the constitution would permit the election of a
new president. He had recently founded an
exploratory commission to examine possible changes
to the constitution and to then propose changes
for a public referendum. Ghimpu said he wanted "a
good, solid constitution," and that one issue
under examination was the language in which it
would be written, either Russian or Moldovan.

CHAUDHRY