RUSSIAN MFA WELCOMES NON-PAPER ON SATELLITE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MOSCOW 001474

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

GENEVA FOR CD DEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: MCAP NASA PARM PREL TSPA UNGA RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN MFA WELCOMES NON-PAPER ON SATELLITE
COLLISION BRIEFING AND SPACE TCBMS

REF: A. A) SECSTATE 54933

B. B) MOSCOW 556

C. C) STATE 28279

D. D) MOSCOW 435


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: At a June 2 meeting, MFA Department for
Security Affairs and Disarmament (DVBR) Expert on Military
Space and ABM Systems Klapovskiy and Third Secretary
Grebenshchikov were pleased by the cooperative tone of ref A
non-paper and points and will inform the Embassy if the
Russian delegation can get to Vienna in time for the proposed
June 8 briefing. Klapovskiy asserted that the 2007 Russian
submission to the UN Secretary General should be the basis to
discuss bilateral transparency and confidence-building
measures (TCBMs) relating to space activities. He carefully
noted that the United States has begun a review of national
space policy and does not want any linkage of TCBMs with the
broader questions of the broader feasibility and desirability
of bilateral and multilateral arms control measures for
space. As part of the U.S. review, Klapovskiy urged a
careful look at the "faulty" EU draft Code of Conduct. At
the direction of Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov,
Grebenshchikov on June 4 requested contact information to
arrange the proposed June 8 briefing. END SUMMARY.

If not June 8 in Vienna then June 15-16 in Geneva
--------------

2. (SBU) Meeting in Russian with EST Counselor on June 2,
MFA Department for Security Affairs and Disarmament (DVBR)
Expert on Military Space and ABM Systems Aleksandr A.
Klapovskiy and Third Secretary Andrey Grebenshchikov warmly
welcomed ref A non-paper and points. Klapovskiy, who works
on the Conference on Disarmament (CD) issues, explained that
the issue of space debris spans his department and. He
promised to study the non-paper carefully and share it with
his colleagues, now in the Department of New Threats and
Challenges, who work on the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of
Outer Space (COPUOS). Klapovskiy was particularly pleased by
both the tone of the non-paper and its emphasis that by
illustrating how congested space has become, the February
satellite collision can serve as an impetus to increase
international cooperation and improve bilateral transparency
and confidence-building measures (TCBMs) relating to space
activities. Grebenshchikov will check and then inform the
Embassy if the Russian COPUOS delegation can change its
travel plans to get to Vienna a day earlier for the proposed
June 8 briefing by General Helms. If this is not possible,
Klapovskiy proposed that that the United States and Russia
should organizing a side-meeting during the UN CD conference
on June 15 and 16 in Geneva. Grebenshchikov would be one of
the expets attending and one of the two planned Russian
presentations will be on the February satellite collision.
Klpapovskiy agreed to share the non-paper and his report with
the MFA North America Desk, Rosatom and the Ministry of
Defense.

Use Russian-proposed space TCBMs As Basis
--------------

3. (SBU) Klapovskiy welcomed the opportunity to resume
working with the United States on TCBMs. Noting that the
Counselor and non-paper had referred potential collaboration
on such bilateral TCBMs as those included in Russia's
submission to the report of the UN Secretary General on
"Transparency and confidence-building measures in Outer space
activities," dated August 3, 2007 (UNGA A/62/114),Klapovskiy
handed over a copy he had marked earlier in pencil. He
stated that because the Russian TCBM submission was the most
complete, it should be the basis for negotiations. The
Ministry of Defense (MOD) had approved the entire text and
Russia remains ready to implement all of the TCBMs.
Recognizing U.S. "sensitivity" to any text referring to the
weaponization of space, Klapovskiy said the United State
could not find objectionable either para one on TCBMs
generally or para 2 on TCBMs in space. He then reviewed

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paras 6, 7 and 8, the Russian Federation's proposal to
establish a group of government experts to esta
blish TCBMs to enhance the transparency of outer space
programs, expand available information on outer space
programs, and establish rules of conduct for outer space
activities.


4. (SBU) Klapovskiy regretted that bilateral work since 2005
on a resolution, including at two expert meetings, has not
achieved anything. He was chagrined that although all other
states voted for the Russian 2008 UNGA resolution on
transparency and confidence-building measures in outer space
activities (A/63/389),the United States had voted against it
and Israel abstained. In light of the satellite collision,
he opined that Russia and the United States, the world's two
largest space powers, should work together and with the
international community to take concrete steps to prevent
further dangerous situations -- exchanging information both
to predict when collisions will occur and to determine how to
avoid them. Such collisions are dangerous and expensive. In
the case of the February collision, the U.S. lost an active
space device in a collision that the United States could have
prevented because the U.S. satellite's engine and power
source were still functioning, whereas the Russian satellite
was dead. Stressing the serious nature space debris poses to
human space flight, Klapovskiy cited Russian data that the
International Space Station (ISS) has had to adjust its path
seven times to avoid a dangerous collision with space debris.
This very serious problem, he intoned, requires serious
study. Given the spirit of the U.S. non-paper, Klapovskiy
hoped the United States would react positively to the new
UNGA resolution on space TCBMs that the MFA is already
preparing.

U.S. Review of Space Policy; No TCBM-Arms Control Link
--------------

5. (SBU) Because Klapovskiy had raised the UN resolution,
the CD meeting, and was so clearly pleased by the non-paper,
EST Counselor deployed the contingency points. Klapovskiy
listened intently, asking her to repeat them slowly and in
English so that Grebenshchikov could capture them verbatim.
They nodded approvingly that the Administration is commencing
a review of all aspects of national space policy, including
arms control policy. Klapovskiy said he understood and would
report carefully that the United States does not want
bilateral discussions on pragmatic and voluntary TCBMs to be
linked to broader questions of the feasibility and
desirability of bilateral and multilateral arms control
measures for space. Although he could not give a
"one-hundred percent sure" answer, he welcomed the change in
U.S. position, adding that it is important for Russia to
respond in time to have an influence on the U.S.'s strategic
review of space policy.

Look Carefully at Faulty EU Code of Conduct
--------------

6. (SBU) Klapovskiy then turned to the EU's Code of Conduct
(CoC),noting that Russia and the EU had agreed that the CoC
would be non-binding and voluntary, while the
Russia-Chinese-proposed Prevention on the Placement of
Weapons in Outer Space Treaty (PPWT) in the CD is to be
legally binding in prohibiting certain types of
weapons-related activities in space. In December 2008, the
EU and Russia agreed that the PPWT and the CoC are first, not
confrontational, second, parallel initiatives, and third,
mutually reinforcing. According to Klapovskiy, Russia and
the EU agreed to advance evenly the PPWT, CoC and the TCBM UN
resolution. He urged that, as the United States reviews
national space policy, it look very carefully at the December
2, 2008 draft CoC that the United States had supported
because it is faulty in three areas:
-- it unnecessarily repeats points that are in current
binding space agreements, which is inappropriate for a
nonbinding document;

MOSCOW 00001474 003 OF 003


-- in places its text is legally binding; and
-- there are unclear several formulations that can be
interpreted in various ways.
Klapovskiy expected that at the June 9 UNCOPUOS, the EU would
call for long-term sustainability of space operations to be
added to the agenda of the scientific-technical committee.
If the parties vote for this, the committee would instruct a
sub-committee to work on a CoC. Klapovskiy noted that Russia
is working on its own draft CoC that includes all the good
parts of the EU's CoC while correcting the faulty areas. It
will circulate it to relevant Russian ministries and then
give it to the EU.

Russian MFA Accepts June 8 Briefing
--------------


7. (SBU) On June 4, Grebenshchikov called to request contact
information to arrange the June 8 briefing. He explained
that they had briefed Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov, who
had directed that the Russian Mission in Vienna send a
high-ranking official to the June 8 briefing, accompanied by
the appropriate experts from the Russian UNCOPUOS delegation.
(Comment: Although Klapovskiy said he would have to study
the non-paper carefully, he was clearly pleased by its tone
and content, and even more buoyed by the contingency points.
Grebenshchikov, who had noted on the way to the meeting room
how much the MFA values Klapovskiy's expertise and that he
was still working with the MFA, did not hide his enthusiasm
on the way out. End Comment.)
BEYRLE