ROGOZIN "SHOCKED" BY NATO EXPULSIONS OF RUSSIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USNATO 000191

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2019
TAGS: NATO PREL MOPS RS GG
SUBJECT: ROGOZIN "SHOCKED" BY NATO EXPULSIONS OF RUSSIAN
DIPLOMATS

Classified By: CHARGE KATE BYRNES FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) AND (d)


1. (C/NF) SUMMARY: In a May 8 meeting with Ambassador
Volker, Russian Ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin spoke
positively about resuming concrete work in the NATO-Russia
Council even while complaining that the recent NATO expulsion
of two Russian diplomats was unjustified. Ambassador Volker
disagreed, arguing that NATO responded moderately and that
the issue should be put to rest. Ambassador Volker urged
Rogozin to move beyond his negative rhetoric about NATO and
instead advocate work on areas of common security interests
between NATO and Russia. Speaking without instructions,
Ambassador Rogozin said he thought Moscow would prefer to
schedule the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) Foreign Ministerial
when new Secretary General Rasmussen was in place, adding
that Moscow was interested in having Rasmussen visit Moscow
in October. Ambassador Volker suspected it would be
difficult for Rasmussen to visit Moscow if the NATO
Information Office in Moscow--which was effectively closed by
the recent Russian expulsion of two Canadian diplomats who
ran the Office--was not re-staffed so that it could
effectively function. END SUMMARY

Shocked by the Expulsions
--------------


2. (C/NF) Ambassador Rogozin claimed he was shocked by
NATO's April 29 expulsion of two Russian diplomats. He said
neither diplomat had anything to do with espionage and that
he was incredulous at the claims that they were. Stressing
that the expulsion decision had been NATO Secretary General
de Hoop Scheffer's to make, Ambassador Volker said that our
information about the two diplomats differed from that
claimed by Rogozin. He also said that after a case like
Hermann Simm--an Estonian who had been convicted for passing
NATO classified information to Moscow--Russia had to know
there would be a reaction from the Alliance. Volker said
that he thought NATO had chosen a moderate response, adding
that had this been directed against the U.S. or another Ally
bilaterally, the response could have been sharper.


3. (C/NF) Ambassador Volker said that Russia's response to
the expulsion of the Russian diplomats--a tit-for-tat
expulsion of two Canadian diplomats seconded to the NATO
Information Office (NIO) in Moscow--was unjustified. Noting
that the expulsion of the Canadians effectively shut the NIO,
Ambassador Volker expressed hope that Moscow would allow the
Office to be re-staffed soon. (Note: The two Canadians were
the only full-time NATO diplomatic staff in the NIO, while
Russia has approximately 50 diplomats accredited to its
Mission to NATO.)

Justifying the Rhetoric
--------------


4. (C/NF) Rogozin went to great pains to explain his most
recent anti-NATO rhetoric in the Russian and international
press, while expressing his hope that the NRC would still be
able to move forward. In defending his admittedly emotional
response, he said he was trying to take the wind out of the
sails of the hard-liners in Moscow who wanted to scupper
relations with NATO. He said the reaction in Moscow to the
expulsions had been like a "bomb explosion." Rogozin
stressed that he had been careful not to link the incident to
President Obama, as he did not want to damage the President's
image with the Russian population prior to the upcoming
meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents. Ambassador
Volker emphasized that Rogozin's fiery rhetoric was extremely
unproductive because it perpetuates an "enemy image" of NATO
inside Russia. He urged Rogozin to instead speak out on
behalf of NATO-Russia cooperation.


Let's focus on the Practical Work
--------------


5. (C/NF) Ambassador Volker stressed the need to do "real
stuff" within the NATO-Russia context, adding that the U.S.

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would like to focus on Afghanistan, counter-piracy, the
Cooperative Airspace Initiative, Theatre Missile Defense, and
NRC reform. Rogozin agreed, stating that work should
continue to reform the NRC as proposed in a series of
non-papers which had been distributed. In this regard, he
said he thought the U.S.-Czech-German non-paper might serve
as a good basis for further discussion.


6. (C/NF) Ambassador Rogozin proposed a joint U.S.-Russia
press conference following the next NRC Ambassadorial.
Ambassador Volker said he would pass this idea on to his
successor.

Timing of the NRC Foreign Ministerial
--------------


7. (C/NF) Stressing that he was speaking on an uninstructed
basis, Rogozin said he doubted Russian FM Lavrov would want
to do the NRC Foreign Ministerial with outgoing NATO
Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer in the chair, preferring
to wait instead for new NATO Secretary General Rasmussen.
When Ambassador Volker noted that this would mean the NRC
Ministerial would then be in September or October, Rogozin
suggested the possibility of a September meeting tied to the
EU GAERC. Ambassador Volker noted that it would also be
possible to link it to the UNGA, if they were looking at
September.


8. (C/NF) Rogozin said Moscow would like Rasmussen to visit
Moscow in October. Volker said he thought it would be
difficult for Rasmussen to agree a visit until the NIO was
again fully staffed and functioning. Rogozin supposed that
it would be up and running again if NATO sends people this
fall. Rogozin asserted that he had always been a defender of
the Information Office.
BYRNES