AMBASSADOR URGES FRANCE TO SUPPORT CONSENSUS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001266 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/16/2019 TAGS: PARM PREL FR SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR URGES FRANCE TO SUPPORT CONSENSUS ON NUCLEAR SUMMIT DRAFT Classified By: Ambassador Charles Rivkin, Reasons 1.4(b),(d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: As negotiations on the draft resolution for the UN Security Council Summit on Nonproliferation and Disarmament continue in New York, Post is strongly emphasizing to the French the importance of reaching P5 consensus. So far, the GOF message remains one of concern that a resolution without tough language referring to proliferation threats will set a dangerous precedent for the 2010 Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference (NPT RevCon) that they and President Sarkozy will likely find hard to accept. On September 15, Ambassador urged NSA Levitte to support P5 consensus on U.S. suggested language in OP7 of the current draft text. Levitte said he would look into the issue, but noted France would consider "strange" Russian or Chinese disagreement with inclusion of a paragraph on the regional crisis that recalls existing resolutions that have not been implemented. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Ambassador Rivkin called President Sarkozy's Diplomatic Advisor (NSA-equivalent) Jean-David Levitte on the evening of September 15 to press the GOF to support the latest draft proposal, underlining that the suggested language for OP7 achieves all our objectives while also allowing for P5 consensus. Levitte said he had already expressed to NSA Jones that it was very important for France to have a paragraph that recalls existing resolutions that have not been implemented. He added that it would be strange if Russia or China disagreed with this approach, although he admitted that he was not on top of the latest language and would look into the matter. ¶3. (C) France was double tracking its diplomatic efforts in New York with Embassy Paris earlier the same day, emphasizing with us the need for a tough focus on nonproliferation in the text. MFA NPT officer Celine Jurgensen approached poloff during an unrelated meeting September 15 to say that Paris had just sent new instructions to French diplomats in New York and emphasized French frustration with the proposed language of the draft resolution. While acknowledging that negotiations on the draft are ongoing, Jurgensen said she wanted to remind the USG that there is pressure from the "very highest levels" of the French government to ensure that this summit focuses strongly on nonproliferation threats. ¶4. (C) Jurgensen went on to add that any text agreed upon at the summit would be used as a precedent during the 2010 NPT RevCon, so it is critical that it tackle nonproliferation challenges head on. France has reluctantly agreed to drop any specific mention of Iran and North Korea in the resolution (though she added that Japanese diplomats had told the French their instructions continue to demand that North Korea be mentioned by name). Jurgensen said, however, it will be hard to present President Sarkozy with a draft of the resolution that does not take into account the priority he himself places on countering the threat to French security posed by specific proliferator countries. RIVKIN