MILIBAND'S RUSSIA TRIP AIMS TO MOVE BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP FORWARD

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 LONDON 002499



NOFORN

SIPDIS



DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/WE, NEA, SCA, PM, T, S/SRAP



E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2019

TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KPAL, ETRD, KNNP, PARM, SENV, MARR, MNUC,

ECON, PHUM, RS, IS, IR, GG, AF, UK

SUBJECT: MILIBAND'S RUSSIA TRIP AIMS TO MOVE BILATERAL

RELATIONSHIP FORWARD



REF: LONDON DAILY 11/3/09



Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Richard LeBaron,

reasons 1.4 (b,d).



1. (C/NF) Summary. The Foreign Office's Russia Directorate

briefed November 4 that the visit by Foreign Secretary David

Miliband to Russia November 1-3 aimed to move forward a

bilateral political relationship that has been beset by

irritants and disagreements for three years. Discussions

focused on multilateral issues over which there was broad

agreement: Afghanistan, disarmament, the Middle East, and

Iran, and issues where there was still bilateral

disagreement: extradition, European security/NATO, human

rights, Georgia, and climate change. Joint statements and

discussions recommitted the two countries to common positions

in support of peace, stability, and prosperity in

Afghanistan, support for the electoral process, and a

condemnation of the Taliban; a lasting two-state peace

settlement of the Middle East conflict; and recognition of

the vital global security role of nuclear non-proliferation

and disarmament. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov expressed

predictable concern over Europe's evolving security

architecture and NATO enlargement while appreciating NATO

SecGen Rasmussen's "transparency" on the NATO Strategic

Concept Review. Miliband and Lavrov "agreed to disagree" on

the interpretations of the reasoning behind Russian military

interventions into Georgia in August 2008. Miliband

expressed hope that Russia would show more visible evidence

of progress on human rights and rule of law, and heard only a

"standard Russian reply" to requests for movement on the UK's

extradition request of Andrei Lugovoi (wanted in connection

with the murder of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in

London in 2006). Miliband pushed Lavrov for an increased

commitment of Russian emission reductions in advance of

Copenhagen, and heard optimistic predictions of three percent

economic growth in Russia in 2010 by First Deputy Prime

Minister Igor Shuvalov. Shuvalov expressed willingness to

maintain momentum on Russia's WTO accession negotiations but

complained he had "gotten no response" when he raised the

issue in Washington this autumn. In a separate November 3

readout with the DCM, the newly-installed FCO Political

Director Geoffrey Adams said that HMG was very satisfied with

the visit. Reading from a UK Embassy Moscow report, he noted

Lavrov had "gone out of his way" to be hospitable, hosting a

small informal dinner with Miliband the evening before the

official schedule began. The media response to the visit was

low-key and generally positive, he added. End summary.





Visit's Goals and Objectives

--------------



2. (C/NF) Michael Davenport, Director of the Foreign and

Commonwealth Office's Russia, South Caucasus, and Central

Asia Directorate briefed members of London's diplomatic corps

November 4 on Foreign Secretary David Miliband's November 1-3

trip to Russia. The objective of Miliband's visit was to

"take forward" the top-level bilateral political dialogue

which Prime Minister Brown started with President Medvedev at

the G8 last year, and which were furthered by Business

Secretary Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Energy and

Climate Change Ed Miliband, and the Duke of York on various

visits to Russia. Miliband and Russian Foreign Secretary

Lavrov agreed on three joint statements on Afghanistan,

non-proliferation, and the Middle East Peace Process. The

visit also demonstrated that Russia and the UK were able to

cooperate on multilateral and bilateral priorities while

engaging on what Davenport termed "hard-headed" issues such

as the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi. Texts of the joint

statements can be found at http://ukinrussia.fco.gov.uk

/en/working-with-russia/visits/david-miliband .





Iran

--------------



3. (C/NF) FS Miliband noted the need for the international

community to begin considering next steps to increase

pressure on Iran with sanctions should there be no progress

on Iran's response to concerns over its nuclear ambitions.

Lavrov expressed concern that unilateral sanctions often had



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a seriously negative impact on Russian companies, to which

Miliband responded that this was more reason to consider

coordinated, multilateral sanctions if required. Davenport

said that Miliband came away from the discussion with the

impression that Russia was pressing Iran to be responsive to

the international community but that Lavrov believed that it

was premature to discuss sanctions in detail.





Afghanistan

--------------



4. (C/NF) Davenport indicated that Lavrov supported NATO's

role in Afghanistan and that Russia wanted NATO to stay

engaged there. The Russians were optimistic over NATO's role

in the process of reintegration but more skeptical on the

potential for reconciliation there. Lavrov agreed on the

importance of President Karzai as a genuinely national

leader. A joint statement issued after the discussions

recommitted the UK and Russia to the security, stability, and

prosperity of Afghanistan; condemned Taliban efforts to

destabilize the electoral process; underscored interest in

prompt completion of the electoral process; and reaffirmed

support for Afghanistan in confronting the threat posed by

the illicit narcotics trade.





Disarmament and Missile Defense

--------------



5. (C/NF) FM Lavrov was optimistic that the successor treaty

to START would be ready by December 5 and indicated to

Miliband that he was looking forward to working with the U.S.

on next steps. Lavrov expressed Russia's desire to see the

disarmament discussion widened to include conventional

weapons and to include countries beyond the P-5, particularly

those vulnerable to becoming more "weaponized." On missile

defense, Lavrov told Miliband he welcomed the U.S. decision

and that he looked forward to working with us on next steps.





European Security / NATO

--------------



6. (C/NF) Discussions on European security architecture,

Davenport said, were in the context of the NATO-Russia

dialogue on Afghanistan. Lavrov said he saw the debate (on

the future of European security) as a litmus test of Western

willingness to meet European security responsibilities. He

welcomed NATO SecGen Rasmussen's willingness to be frank and

transparent with Russia over NATO's Strategic Concept Review

and looked forward to Rasmussen's upcoming trip to Russia to

further engage on the issue of security. Lavrov raised with

Miliband the view that Russia hoped to see the future of

European security arrangements enshrined in a treaty with

Russia, "either through the OSCE or the Corfu process."

Miliband demurred, indicating that the discussions should be

open and frank while cautioning that a treaty would not be

the "end-all-be-all" solution; things must move forward

incrementally, he said. On NATO enlargement specifically,

Lavrov replayed traditional Russian arguments about the West

"not keeping its word" in the 1990s not to expand the

alliance and pointed to this grievance in support of a new

treaty to govern Europe's new security architecture Lavrov

promised that Russia would come to the next NATO-Russia

Council meeting with more concrete proposals on Russian views

for Europe's new security architecture, but Davenport

expressed the view that HMG had "heard this before."

President Medvedev and Prime Minister Brown were expected to

meet in Berlin next week where the issue would likely be

discussed further.





MEPP

--------------



7. (SBU) The Middle East Peace Process was the subject of a

joint statement by Lavrov and Miliband -- recommitting Russia

and the UK to a "comprehensive, just, and lasting peace

settlement" of the conflict; and Davenport said there was

agreement that the Palestinians needed a "credible route to a

credible state."



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Georgia

--------------



8. (C/NF) Miliband and Lavrov agreed to disagree on

different interpretations of what occurred in Georgia in

August 2008. Miliband reasserted the view that sovereign

states had the right to determine their security arrangements

and alliances, and Davenport assessed that Russia was

prepared to "play its part" in Geneva. Russian Deputy

Foreign Minister Karasin was expected in London on December

19, during which these discussions would continue.





Human Rights / Rule of Law

--------------



9. (C/NF) Miliband welcomed President Medvedev's commitments

on human rights and the rule of law, but expressed to Lavrov

that HMG hoped to see more evidence of these commitments

being put into practice. Miliband noted that the issues

impact the investment climate and hoped more could be done

with a public face. Davenport noted that the EU-Russia

dialogue on human rights was underway this week and the

UK-Russia bilateral human rights dialogue would also

continue, with an invitation extended to Russia to

participate in dialogue talks in London in early 2010.

Davenport, in response to a question, confirmed that HMG had

no current plans to re-open the British Council office in St.

Petersburg, but that the Russian MFA was supportive of the

Council's work in country.





Extradition in Litvinenko Case

--------------



10. (C/NF) Turning to the key bilateral irritant, Miliband

raised the extradition case of Andrei Lugovoi, wanted in

connection with the 2006 murder in London of Alexander

Litvinenko. Miliband said that it was unacceptable that no

satisfactory cooperation from Russia on the UK's concerns and

questions had been forthcoming. Lavrov, Davenport said,

offered the "standard Russian reply."





Copenhagen - Climate Change

--------------



11. (C/NF) Miliband urged Lavrov to look again at Russia's

negotiating position in advance of Copenhagen, noting that

planned Russian reductions of 10-15 percent in carbon

emissions by 2020 from a 1990 base year were insufficient,

given the already huge reductions that occurred because of

Russia,s economic decline in the 1990s. The Foreign

Secretary urged Lavrov and First Deputy Prime Minister

Shuvalov that increasing Russia's reduction pledge would send

the right message to other countries.





Economics / WTO

--------------



12. (C/NF) Shuvalov was upbeat about Russia's economy,

Davenport reported, and said that he predicted three percent

growth in 2010. Shuvalov also indicated that Russia wanted

to press ahead on with Russia's WTO accession negotiations,

but had "gotten no response from Washington" when he was

there this autumn.





Visit Atmospherics

--------------



13. (C/NF) In a separate November 3 meeting with the DCM,

the new FCO Political Director, Geoffrey Adams, shared a

readout from the UK Ambassador in Moscow, who noted that

Lavrov had "gone out of his way to be hospitable" and had

hosted an informal dinner on November 1 where the discussion

was wide-ranging and relaxed. Davenport echoed that the

atmospherics of the visit were "pretty good," despite

criticism in the UK media of the Foreign Secretary having



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been "snubbed" on Litvinenko. Formal discussions were

"business-like and productive" with promises of follow-up,

though Adams expressed some disappointment that a planned

meeting with Russian President Medvedev and Miliband had not

materialized. Adams, when questioned by DCM said there was

no clear solution in sight regarding the Litvinenko case.

The FCO assesses that the visit was a step forward in the

UK's bilateral dialogue with Russia, and while there remained

important areas of disagreement, the channels would stay open

and the discussion of these issues would continue.



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Susman