NATO-RUSSIA: RUSSIA DELAYING NRC PROGRESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L USNATO 000518 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/12/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR NATO RS SUBJECT: NATO-RUSSIA: RUSSIA DELAYING NRC PROGRESS REF: A. USNATO 514 ¶B. USNATO 491 Classified By: Acting Political Advisor Alejandro "Hoot" Baez for reaso ns 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (C) NATO International Staff on November 11 canceled the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) Preparatory Committee meeting scheduled for November 12 after the Chair determined that the meeting would have been "a waste of time" because the Russian Mission indicated that, once again, they would fail to have the necessary instructions regarding the draft documents "Taking the NRC Forward" and the NRC 2010 Work Plan. Russia remains unable to engage in a meaningful manner in PrepCom meetings devoted to finalizing these documents prior to the December NRC Ministerial, and the Russian DCM has intimated that Moscow does not consider the reform paper "Taking the NRC Forward" necessary. The PrepCom is scheduled to meet on November 17. ¶2. (C) Comment: Despite our best efforts to reset relations with Russia, Moscow has consistently failed to even provide its NATO Mission with the instructions it needs to have a serious and substantive discussion about how to take the relationship forward. Even Ambassador Rogozin has expressed his frustration with this situation (ref A). Unless and until Moscow decides it wants to seriously engage, our ability to improve NATO-Russia engagement and cooperation will remain extremely limited. DAALDER