GEORGIA: FOLLOW ON QUESTIONS ON REMOVAL OF SUKHUMI

C O N F I D E N T I A L TBILISI 000121

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR ISN/WMDT, EUR/PRA, EUR/RUS, AND EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2019
TAGS: KNNP PARM PGOV PREL RS GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: FOLLOW ON QUESTIONS ON REMOVAL OF SUKHUMI
RADIOACTIVE SOURCES

REF: A. 09 STATE 3902

B. 08 STATE 126999

C. 08 MOSCOW 3605

D. 08 TBILISI 2172

Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN F. TEFFT FOR REASONS 1.4 B and D.


1. (U) This is an action request. Post requests Department's
assistance in providing responses to the questions in
paragraph 3. End action request.


2. (C) Poloffs delivered ref A demarche to Giorgi Dolidze,
MFA's Deputy Director of the Security Policy and
Euro-Atlantic Integration Department, and Nestan
Bejanishvili, Third Secretary of the same department.
Dolidze thanked poloffs for the information and stated that
if the high-level RADIOACTIVE sources no longer exist in
Abkhazia, then we have reached our common goal of removing
this threat from Georgia. He said he would speak with his
leadership after the meeting and forward any reactions.


3. (C) Dolidze did express some concern regarding the Russian
response and asked the following three questions. (1) What
guarantees did the Russians provide that they had removed the
high-level RADIOACTIVE sources? He stated that the Georgians
do not want to be in the position one day of discovering
these sources in a smuggling case. (2) Did the Russians
formally inform the IAEA that they had removed these sources?
(3) Did the Russians remove all the RADIOACTIVE sources from
the Sukhumi Institute of Physics and the Sukhumi Institute
for Experimental Pathology or only the four high-level
radioactive sources?


4. (U) Post appreciates the Department's assistance in
answering the Georgian questions above.
TEFFT