NATO GUIDANCE: SENIOR RESOURCE BOARD (SRB) APRIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L STATE 040431 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/21/2019 TAGS: NATO PREL AMGT SUBJECT: NATO GUIDANCE: SENIOR RESOURCE BOARD (SRB) APRIL 23 AND 24 PLENARY MEETING REF: USNATO 000149 Classified By: EUR/RPM Director Bruce I. Turner ¶1. (U) In general terms, Washington concurs with positions outlined by USNATO in Refs A. Additional guidance is provided below. ¶2. (C) Ref Item I, ISAF. In discussion of resource implications of recent Summit agreement to establish a NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A),Washington instructs Mission to emphasize U.S. expectation that NTM-A will require limited common funding on a level analogous to that provided for the NATO Training Mission-Iraq (Washington Comment: this position is rooted in a desire not only to limit calls on NATO common funding, which is under pressure this year, but also to shield NTM-A from recurring and potentially contentious debates on approving requests for common funding in SRB. End comment.) Mission should also point out that a detailed discussion of NTM-A resourcing should await provision of NATO military advice as to its proposed structure and operation. CLINTON