SECRETARY CLINTON'S APRIL 15 MEETING WITH EU

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 039151

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/16/2019
TAGS: EUN PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: SECRETARY CLINTON'S APRIL 15 MEETING WITH EU
HIGH REPRESENTATIVE JAVIER SOLANA

Classified By: Classified by EUR Assistant Secretary
Daniel Fried. Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (U) Meeting took place April 15, 2009; 12:30 -
1:10 pm; Washington, DC.


2. (U) Participants

U.S.
--------------
The Secretary
Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy, Richard
Morningstar
EUR - Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary
NSC - Kristina Kvien, Director
EUR/ERA - William Lucas (notetaker)

EU
--------------
High Representative (and Council Secretary
General),Javier Solana
Council Secretariat Political Director, Robert
Cooper
Enrique Mora, Solana Chef de Cabinet
Stephane Soboul, Solana Aide


3. (C) Summary: After brief comments to the press,
and before a one-on-one lunch, the Secretary and HiRep
Solana met for 40 minutes of discussion focusing
primarily on Iran and Afghanistan/Pakistan. On Iran, Solana
reported on his follow-up with the Iranians after the
recent P5+1 meeting in London. There was agreement on
the need to maintain momentum and continue close
coordination. On Afghanistan/Pakistan, Solana
reiterated EU intentions to provide election monitors and more
police training but flagged the need for adequate security for
the personnel involved. There were brief exchanges on
the President's Prague meetings, energy security, Western
Balkans, Georgia/Russia, Moldova, and Ukraine.
Guantanamo (GTMO) was discussed on the margins. End Summary.


4. (C) Iran: The Secretary and Solana agreed that
the recent P5+1 meeting in London, marking full U.S.
engagement in future talks with Iran, was an important
step. In accordance with the document produced at that
meeting, Solana reached out immediately to the Iranians
but it took Jalili three days to get back to him. Their
April 13 phone conversation, the first in several
months, went well, with Jalili favoring continuation of talks
with the P5+1, but indicating an Iranian desire to respond in
writing. (Solana voiced his preference to the Secretary
for moving away from such exchanges of written messages,
as it consumed too much time.) Solana said if he had
not heard again from the Iranians by April 20, he would call
Jalili again; it was important to maintain momentum.
Solana reaffirmed support in the P5+1 for the "freeze
for freeze" approach but noted the need to keep working on
Russia and China. Noting the time factor, the Secretary
said Iran does not appear to be slowing its nuclear
program and could be developing covert nuclear
activities. She stressed the need for unity and close
cooperation between the U.S. and EU and within the P5+1
--
including on developing additional inducements -- and to
continue working on China and Russia and to a lesser
extent the EU-3 to maintain a united front. Solana
cautioned that there was no guarantee of success. In a
side conversation later, Robert Cooper said EU consensus
for additional sanctions at this time would be difficult
without another UNSCR or major (negative) development.


5. (C) Afghanistan/Pakistan: Solana reiterated the
EU's commitment to increase police training, including
by boosting EUPOL to 400 trainers. He noted the
longstanding problem of protection for these police trainers and for
potential EU election monitors; the EU is still talking
to NATO about a possible solution. (Later, Cooper brushed
off suggestions of a UN umbrella for election monitors
and requested U.S. assistance in providing protection, if
NATO efforts fail.) On Pakistan, Solana said the EU should
do more on trade and development, but it was difficult to
increase EU engagement in Pakistan. Nevertheless, EU
Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner will attend the donors'
conference and there will be an EU-Pakistan summit in
the coming weeks.


6. (C) Regional Issues: The Secretary urged EULEX
to have more of a presence in the north of Kosovo and

STATE 00039151 002 OF 002


reaffirmed our interest in seeing better relations with
Serbia. A/S Fried complimented EU post-OHR plans for
Bosnia and its strategy for dealing with Serbia. The
Secretary urged a solution to the Croatia-Slovenia
border issue and the Macedonia name dispute. The Secretary and
Solana agreed the Georgian leadership is holding up
reasonably well under considerable domestic and Russian
pressure. Solana thought Saakashvili needed to enter
into meaningful dialogue with the opposition. There was
agreement to try to maintain UN, EU, and OSCE monitors
in Georgia. On Moldova, the Secretary said we would look
to the EU's lead. On Ukraine, the Secretary urged efforts
to "press and help" Ukraine through this difficult period.
Solana commented that the political system is not
working properly. Cooper added Ukraine is too big and primitive
to become an EU candidate at this stage; it needed to
mature politically. Special Envoy Morningstar noted the
energy sector needed attention, too.


7. (C) Other issues: SE Morningstar and Solana
exchanged pledges to cooperate closely on energy
security issues. The Secretary and Solana agreed that the
President's trip to Europe was highly successful and the
Prague leaders' and Foreign Ministers' meetings had gone
very well. They agreed that now we must turn to the
hard work of implementation and achieving results. On the
margins of the meeting, Solana's staff said EU
discussions were underway regarding a Memorandum of Understanding
with the U.S. that would allow willing member states to
accept released Guantanamo detainees.
CLINTON