GEORGIA: RUSSIAN MISSION REFUSES TO ENGAGE ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000554

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM UNSC UNOMIG RS GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: RUSSIAN MISSION REFUSES TO ENGAGE ON
GEORGIA RESOLUTION

Classified By: Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT. At a meeting of French,
German, U.K., U.S., Russian and Croatian PRs/DPRs on
June 2, Russian Permrep Vitaly Churkin refused to
engage on a German draft resolution to extend the
United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG).
Churkin said he had received emphatic instructions
from Moscow that Russia was to seek another "technical
extension of the UN mission for another 3-4 months"
unless the West was willing to engage on a draft that
"reflected the real state of affairs in the region."
Churkin also threatened future Abkhaz participation in
the UN's Joint Incident Resolution and Prevention
Mechanism and questioned the viability of the Geneva
talks. Churkin was unwilling to elaborate on what an
acceptable draft would look like, nor was he willing
to discuss any concerns with elements of the German
draft or commit to any future discussions of the
German draft. French, German, U.K., U.S. and Croatian
Ambassadors all said they thought the German draft was
reasonable, stressing that it reflected nearly
verbatim the recommendations of the Secretary-General.
USUN recommends that the Department engage with Moscow
directly to insist that Russia engage in good faith on
a draft resolution for Georgia. END SUMMARY AND
COMMENT.


2. (C) Quad PRs/DPRs (France, Germany, U.K., U.S.)
Croatia met with Russian PR Vitaly Churkin on June 2
to review the German (Quad-blessed) draft of the
UNOMIG resolution. Churkin refused to engage on the
text of the German draft. Instead, he read directly
from what he said were his instructions from Moscow,
which said, "If partners insist on discussing this
draft then we can only return to another technical
extension of three to four months. In such a case the
Abkhaz are certain to refuse to participate in the
Joint Incident Response and Prevention Mechanism
(JIPRM),which would call into question the viability
of the Geneva discussions." Churkin went on reading,
saying, "the West should understand, that if they are
interested in continuing the UN presence, then all
partners should seek a mutually acceptable solution
that reflects the real state of affairs in the
region." Churkin added that the German draft ignored
the new realities in the region that were created
after the August 2008 conflict.


3. (C) Continuing to read, Churkin said that the
current German draft also did not reflect recent
conversations of Georgia SRSG Johan Verbeke in Moscow,
during which, Churkin said, Verbeke had described
Russian suggestions for a security regime and mandate
as reasonable. Churkin refused to elaborate on those
suggestions when prodded by other Ambassadors, but
instead reiterated that the German draft was "far from
the SYG's recommendations," both in its "substantive"
and its "political" content. He said he was "not
permitted to discuss" the draft, but instead he was
instructed to seek a technical rollover in the absence
of a "suitable" draft resolution. He also repeated
that the Abkhaz would refuse to participate in the
Joint Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism,
which would in turn call the viability of the Geneva
talks into question.


4. (C) Ambassador DiCarlo, supported by the French,
U.K. and Croatian DPRs and German PR Mattusek, said
she believed the German draft was a good basis for
negotiating, and had been a good faith effort to
reflect the SYG's recommendations. She said it made
no sense to produce a new draft absent any input from
Russia. She suggested that experts should meet to
discuss the draft in detail-- a suggestion that
Churkin refused. DiCarlo said the U.S. had also
provided input to Verbeke for the SYG's
recommendations and, like Russia, was disappointed
that not all of our suggestions had been included in
the SYG's report. However, she said, the U.S. was
willing to engage in a good faith effort to find an
acceptable resolution.


5. (C) COMMENT. We have seen Russia use the tactic of
non-engagement in past negotiations (Kosovo, for
example),and we are therefore not convinced that
Russia will refuse to engage on a draft. We do
believe, however, that Russia is testing how badly the
West wants a UN mandate. Churkin has clearly stated

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that Russia is ready to adopt another technical
rollover of UNOMIG. As the SYG pointed out in his May
19 report, a technical rollover would lead to further
erosion of the security situation on the ground, but
at the same time it would allow Russia to avoid being
seen as blocking a reasonable security regime and UN
mandate. We do not believe it would be wise to
second-guess ourselves by presenting an alternative
draft resolution to Russia. Instead, USUN believes
the Department should engage directly with Moscow to
insist that Russia engage in a good faith effort to
find a way forward on Abkhazia. We may want to remind
Moscow that we will hold Russia responsible if the UN
mission expires and if security on the ground
continues to erode. If Russia does refuse to engage
before the current mandate expires on June 15, we will
need to determine whether another technical rollover
is acceptable to us, or whether alternatively, we
should seek a revised mandate or no mandate at all.
END COMMENT.

RICE