Uzbekistan: Timing is Not Conducive for Demarche on

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000345 SIPDIS AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO USOFFICE ALMATY AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PASS TO AMCONSUL HYDERABAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 2018-12-22 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM GG UZ SUBJECT: Uzbekistan: Timing is Not Conducive for Demarche on Abkhazia and South Ossetia REF: A.) STATE 24186; B.) 08 TASHKENT 1029; C.) 08 TASHKENT 1420 D.) TASHKENT 108; E.) TASHKENT 183 CLASSIFIED BY: Timothy P Buckley, Second Secretary; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) ¶1. (C) Post determined that it would be counterproductive to deliver ref A demarche to the Government of Uzbekistan encouraging it to resist signs of de facto recognition for Abkhazia or South Ossetia. Uzbekistan has to date consistently resisted strong Russian pressure to recognize both breakaway republics, including at the SCO summit in Dushanbe last year and separate visits to Tashkent by both Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev (refs B - D). Uzbekistan already sees itself as in a very delicate position in balancing relations with Russia. We believe Uzbekistan would resent any further pressure from the U.S. on the issue, especially regarding the travel of its officials stationed in Moscow, which would prompt complaints of U.S. meddling in its bilateral affairs. The demarche could also lead Uzbekistan to conclude that it enjoys added leverage over the U.S. at a time when we are already working hard to dispel the notion that our need for Afghan transit networks trumps other interests. ¶2. (C) We do not believe that Uzbekistan will recognize either breakaway republic -- nor will it recognize Kosovo (ref E) -- since authorities are concerned about ethnic divisions and borders in Central Asia itself. NORLAND