NATO-RUSSIA: RESPONDING TO RUSSIA'S LATEST DRAFT TREATY LIMITING THE DEPLOYMENT OF TROOPS ABROAD

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 USNATO 000579



SIPDIS



E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/09/2019

TAGS: PGOV, PREL, MARR, MOPS, NATO, RS

SUBJECT: NATO-RUSSIA: RESPONDING TO RUSSIA'S LATEST DRAFT

TREATY LIMITING THE DEPLOYMENT OF TROOPS ABROAD



REF: MOSCOW 2878



Classified By: Ambassador Daalder for reasons 1.4 (b/d).



1. (U) This is a request for guidance. Please see para 7.



2. (C) Summary and comment: At the December 4 NATO-Russia

Council Ministerial, Russia presented to NATO a draft treaty

that would commit the Alliance to use the NRC to address

threats to Allies' security and prevent NATO from stationing

armed forces on the territory of its Central and Eastern

European members. The treaty avoids mentioning the OSCE and

differs from Russia's proposed European Security Treaty

mainly in specifying the NRC as the forum for discussion.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov asked ministers that Allies

consider discussing the new treaty with Russia at subsequent

NRC meetings. After reviewing the document, Allies' initial

response has centered on the need for the NRC to focus

instead on the ministers' decisions to work on agreed areas

of practical cooperation and start a Joint Review of common

security threats. The U.S. should respond by urging Russia

to comply with existing treaties before suggesting new ones,

and by keeping the NRC focused on initiatives already agreed.

End summary and comment.



Russia Hands NATO a Draft Treaty

--------------



3. (C) During the December 4 NATO-Russia Council Ministerial

(NRC),Russian FM Sergey Lavrov presented Allies with a draft

agreement between NATO members and Russia that would, among

other things, limit the deployment of troops to certain

European countries. Lavrov said that Russia would not

publicize the document, looked forward to Allied responses,

and hoped the topic would be discussed in the NRC (full text

in para 8).



4. (C) The heart of the Russian proposal is an article that

would commit NATO not to station significant forces in the

Central and Eastern European countries that joined the

Alliance after 1997. The proposal also commits members to

use the NRC to address threats to their security, and

selectively cites previous NATO-Russia agreements, leaving

out key elements such as the 1997 Founding Act's numerous

references to the OSCE. The draft treaty appears to be what

the Russian MFA had in mind when it said recently that the

GOR wanted a strategic-level political declaration to

reorient the NATO-Russia relationship (reftel).



5. (C) PermReps have reacted by reiterating that the focus

needed to be not on a new treaty but on implementing

decisions made at the NRC Ministerial to launch the Joint

Review of 21st Century Common Security Challenges and work on

areas of practical cooperation included in the NRC Work Plan

for 2010. A fuller Allied discussion of the Russian proposal

will take place on December 14 in advance of the NATO

Secretary General's December 15-17 trip to Moscow.



Comment

--------------



6. (C) Russia's latest proposed treaty, along with the draft

European Security Treaty (EST) released by Moscow just days

earlier, appear designed to undermine NATO and the OSCE. The

GOR proposal is clearly a non-starter for Allies, but Russia

may hope to sow division and raise questions about Alliance

unity. Despite Allies unanimous response that the proposed

EST should be discussed in the OSCE, Germany, France, Italy,

and Spain have commented that they could also consider

discussing the EST proposal in the NRC. Russia may hope to

get a similar reaction to its newest draft treaty.



7. (C) The U.S. should join Allies at the NRC in urging

Russia to comply with existing treaties before suggesting new

ones. We should emphasize to the Russians that the NRC needs

to focus on the recently approved Work Plan for 2010 and the

Joint Review of 21st Century Common Security Challenges,

documents that were endorsed by all 29 NRC ministers on

December 4, instead of debating proposals designed to

undermine NATO and the OSCE. Russia needs to hear the

message again that the OSCE, not the NRC, is the appropriate



USNATO 00000579 002 OF 004





forum for such discussions. We request any additional input

from Washington by OOB Brussels time December 11.



Treaty Text

--------------



8. (C) Below is the English text provided to Allies on

December 4:



AGREEMENT ON BASIC PRINCIPLES GOVERNING RELATIONS AMONG

NATO-RUSSIA COUNCIL MEMBER STATES IN THE SECURITY SPHERE



The Member States of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) - Parties

to this Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the Parties),



committed to promote friendly relations between States for

the benefit of a lasting and comprehensive peace in the

Euro-Atlantic region founded on the principles of democracy,

market economy and the rule of law;



recognizing that uniting efforts of all the Parties is

indispensable to respond effectively to contemporary

challenges and threats to security in a globalized and

interdependent world;



seeking to bring their relations to a new level through equal

partnership, solidarity and mutual trust in the sphere of

security;



noting that security interests of each Party call to improve

effectiveness of multilateral cooperation, enhance stability,

predictability and transparency in the political and military

sphere;



reaffirming their commitment to the purposes and principles

of the Charter of the United Nations; the 1975 Helsinki Final

Act adopted at the Conference on Security and Cooperation in

Europe; the 1997 Founding Act on Mutual Relations,

Cooperation and Security between the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization and the Russian Federation; the 1994 Code of

Conduct on Political-Military Aspects of Security; the 1999

Charter on European Security and the Rome Declaration

&NATO-Russia Relations: A New Quality8 signed by the Heads

of State and Government of NATO Member States and the Russian

Federation in 2002;



have agreed as follows:



Article 1



Without prejudice to obligations emanating from their

membership in international organizations, military

alliances, coalitions or other associations, the Parties

shall be guided in their relations by the principles of

cooperation and equal and indivisible security. They shall

not enhance their own security at the expense of the security

of others.



In their relations the Parties shall peacefully settle any

international dispute as well as refrain from the threat or

use of force in any way inconsistent with the purposes of the

United Nations.



Article 2



In the framework of the NRC the Parties, acting in their

national capacity, shall establish and maintain mechanisms

for harmonizing measures aimed at preventing and settling

conflicts in the Euro-Atlantic region.



The Parties shall regularly exchange their assessments of

contemporary threats and challenges to security and agree, if

necessary, on measures aimed to neutralize these threats and

challenges. These measures shall not infringe upon legitimate

security interests of other States.



In case of a situation of threats to security of or the use

of force against one of the Parties emerges, an extraordinary

meeting of the NRC shall be immediately convened at the

request of any Party in order, to hold urgent consultations

and, if necessary, agree on measures that may be required to



USNATO 00000579 003 OF 004





bring this situation to an end.



Article 3



The Parties shall not consider each other as adversaries.

They shall maintain only such a level of military capacity,

which is commensurate with their legitimate security needs,

and shall perform defense planning in a way that it does not

threaten the security of other Parties.



The Parties shall maintain a dialogue on defense planning in

order to avoid incidents related to military activities.



Article 4



The Russian Federation and all the Parties that were Member

States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as of 27 May

1997, respectively, shall refrain from stationing on a

permanent basis (including temporary deployment for more than

42 days during the calendar year) of their substantial combat

forces (at the level of combat brigade (combat support

brigade),air wing/air regiment, helicopter

battalion/helicopter regiment or above, or having more than

41 battle tanks or 188 armoured combat vehicles, or 90 pieces

of artillery of 100 millimeters caliber and above, or 24

combat aircraft, or 24 attack helicopters) on the territory

of all the other States in Europe in addition to the forces

stationed on that territory as of 27 May 1997. In exceptional

cases, when situations arise in which a threat to security of

one or more Parties should be neutralized, such deployments

can take place with the consent of all the Parties to this

Agreement in the framework of the NRC.



Article 5



The Parties shall view arms control and confidence- and

security-building measures as a material basis of stability

and security. They shall cooperate with a view to ensure

viability, timely adaptation and advancement of arms control

regimes.



Article 6



This Agreement shall not affect and shall not be interpreted

as affecting the primary responsibility of the Security

Council of the United Nations for maintaining international

peace and security, nor the rights and obligations of the

Parties under the Charter of the United Nations.



Article 7



This Agreement shall be subject to ratification by signatory

States. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited

with the Depositary, which shall notify all other signatory

States of any such instrument deposited.



This Agreement shall enter into force from the date of

deposit of instruments of ratification with the Depositary by

more than a half of the signatory States. With respect to a

State that deposited its instrument of ratification at a

later date this Agreement shall enter into force from the

date of its deposit.



Each Party shall, in exercising its national sovereignty,

have the right to withdraw from this Agreement if it decides

that extraordinary events, related to the subject matter of

this Agreement, have jeopardized its supreme interests. A

Party to this Agreement intending to withdraw from the

Agreement shall give notice of its decision to do so to the

Depositary and all other Parties to this Agreement. Such

notice shall be given at least (120) days prior to the

intended withdrawal from this Agreement. It shall include a

statement of the extraordinary events the Party to this

Agreement regards as having jeopardized its supreme

interests.



This Agreement has been drawn up in Russian, English and

French, all texts being equally authentic, and shall be

deposited in the archive of the Depositary, which is the

Government of ... . Duly certified copies of this Agreement

will be forwarded by the above-mentioned Government to the



USNATO 00000579 004 OF 004





Governments of other signatory States.



In witness thereof the undersigned, being duly authorized

thereto, have signed this Agreement.



Done in (the city of . ) this (XX) day of (XX) two thousand

and (XX).



End text.

DAALDER