UPDATE ON UNGASS NEGOTIATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L UNVIE VIENNA 000036 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2019 TAGS: AORC KCRM PGOV SNAR UN SUBJECT: UPDATE ON UNGASS NEGOTIATIONS REF: A. SECSTATE 7824 ¶B. UNVIE VIENNA 0031 ¶C. SECSTATE 8303 Classified By: AMBASSADOR GREGORY SCHULTE, FOR REASONS 1.4 (C) AND (E). ¶1. (C) Ambassador deployed Ref A guidance verbatim with Namibian Ambasssador Selma Ashipala-Musavyi. ¶2. (C) She asked if the pause involved the whole negotiations or just "harm reduction." Per guidance, Ambassador said that we were requesting a pause in negotiations. She said that she understood our situation. (Note: As reported in Ref B, she had already called for a pause in "harm reduction" negotiations. End Note.) She told Ambassador she could not promise a pause through February 6 but would "see what she could do." Perhaps she could delay issuing a new document then scheduling follow-on meetings. She promised to get back to Ambassador. ¶3. (C) Ambassador spoke again with Ashipala evening of January 29. She reported then shse would defer negotiations on the political declaration until February 5. She said that all other issues could be negotiated independent of the "harm reduction" issue. On January 30, Ambassador spoke with Asipala to deploy Ref C. ¶4. (C) In the morning of January 30, Ashipala shared with Ambassador an advanced copy of her revised draft political declaration. She emphasized the need for us to be discreet, stressing that no other delegation, not even the Secretariat, had been allowed this advance look. She expressed her belief that the U.S. should be largely satisfied with her revisions. We expect her to distribute the new draft soon, and will forward to Washington immediately. ¶5. (C) Per Ref C instructions, Mission will not contact our allies (Japan, Russia, Colombia) regarding the "pause," and will rather let the Chair take the lead on this matter. ¶6. (C) Mission has received an initial press query (from Reuters) which we handeld with reftel guidance. Otherwise, we are standing down on engagements outside the Working Group pending further Washington guidance. SCHULTE