CFE/JCG: DELEGATIONS SUPPORT U.S. WITH RUSSIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L USOSCE 000051 SIPDIS STATE FOR VCI/CCA, EUR/RPM NSC FOR HAYES JCS FOR J5/COL NORWOOD OSD FOR ISA (PERENYI) E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/09/2018 TAGS: KCFE OSCE PARM PREL RS SUBJECT: CFE/JCG: DELEGATIONS SUPPORT U.S. WITH RUSSIA STUCK IN TRAFFIC Classified By: Chief Arms Control Delegate Hugh Neighbour, for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Summary: At the March 10 JCG plenary, eight delegations supported the U.S. statement, which cited two recent examples of continued implementation of the CFE Treaty in contrast to Russia's continued refusal of inspection requests. Heavy Vienna morning traffic kept the Russian reps from making it to the meeting on time. End Summary. Strong Support for U.S. Statement on Continued CFE Implementation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (SBU) The Joint Consultative Group (JCG) met on March 10 under the Chairmanship of Ukraine. No one from the Russian Federation was present at the start of the meeting. The U.S. (Neighbour) first cited Russia's refusal on February 26 of a U.S. request to conduct a CFE inspection on March 2. In contrast to Russia's refusal, Neighbour then noted two recent instances of compliance with the CFE inspection regime: a U.S. inspection in Ukraine the week of March 2; and a Norwegian-led inspection, in which the U.S. was a guest participant, in Azerbaijan, February 16-19. The U.S. pointed out that these are only two recent examples which demonstrate that 29 States Parties continue to implement the CFE Treaty, and which stand in contrast to the approach taken by the Russian Federation. Neighbour said that Russia's non-compliance with CFE Treaty obligations is counterproductive and makes resolution of the CFE impasse all the more difficult. ¶3. (SBU) The Ukrainian rep (Taran) thanked the U.S. for its statement and noted that the recent U.S. inspection in Ukraine was a positive contribution. Ukraine continues to preserve the CFE regime and encouraged all States Parties to continue to do the same to prevent the further breakdown of the arms control regime in Europe. ¶4. (SBU) The UK (Gare) thanked the U.S. and Ukrainian representatives for their statements highlighting recent actions of CFE compliance, and was grateful for the information on Russia's February 26 refusal of a U.S. request to inspect. Germany Hopes for Revival - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶5. (SBU) Germany (Richter) recalled his February 17 JCG ;statement in which he called CFE an anchor of stability that must be maintained and also recalled Germany's position regarding compliance with Treaty obligations. He hoped that Russia's non-presence would not be another obstacle in moving forward and had only occurred due to a "technical difficulty." He noted that Germany hopes we will "revive" the dialogue by the end of Spring possibly with the initiative begun by the German Foreign Minister. Richter promised in due time to have more information on that initiative to relay in the JCG in the coming weeks. ¶6. (SBU) Romania (Matei) supported the interventions made by the U.S., Ukraine, UK, and Germany, and reiterated Romania's continued implementation of the CFE Treaty. Turkey (Begic),while noting it was not common practice for the Turkish delegation to address remarks regarding States Parties not present, also lent its support for the U.S. statement as did Portugal (Teixeira). ¶7. (SBU) The Netherlands (Kleinjan) echoed support for the U.S. statement and Ukrainian remarks. Kleinjan called attention to the fact that 29 States Parties continue to implement the CFE Treaty. Italy (Negro) aligned with the British, Turkish and other delegations who already had thanked the U.S. delegation for its statement. Negro was pleased that States Parties continue to abide by the Treaty in light of the fact that "erosion of confidence is permeating the world by the acts of one Party." Better Late Than Never - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶8. (SBU) The Chair (Herasymenko) formally recognized that the Russian Federation was not represented and proposed that Russia be given the chance to respond if any of its representatives showed up later in the meeting. Almost as if on cue, one Russian representative (Kuznetsov) walked into the meeting following the Chair's words and said there was a "traffic jam." The Chair reiterated his proposal for the benefit of Kuznetsov, who chose not to sit in the Russian Federation's chair nor take the floor to respond. A second Russian rep (Gruzdev) also arrived for the JCG, but the plenary already had closed officially. The U.S. later learned that an embarrassed Russian Chief Arms Control Delegate Ulyanov had attempted to phone Neighbour and others during the meeting to alert his American colleague and the JCG that he was stuck in traffic. Apparently, all had turned off their cell phones for the meeting. A Traffic Jam Today Won't Prevent Me From Replying Next Time - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶9. (C) After the meeting, Ulyanov told the U.S. (Neighbour) that he planned to reply on 24 March to the U.S. statement by complaining there had been no bilateral U.S.-Russian negotiations since December. Armenia and Azerbaijan Remain Silent - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶10. (SBU) Before the JCG meeting, the U.S. alerted the Armenian and Azerbaijani reps to our plans to mention the Norwegian-led inspection in Azerbaijan to prevent any repeat of recent Armenia-Azerbaijan exchanges where each had accused the other of excess holdings of Treaty-limited equipment. Next Meeting - - - - - - - ¶11. (U) The next JCG Plenary will be on March 24 under the Chairmanship of Germany. The next JCG-T will be on March 16 and will be chaired by the U.S. SCOTT