GEORGIA: UPDATE ON KAZBEGI/LARSI CHECKPOINT

C O N F I D E N T I A L TBILISI 000176

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2020
TAGS: PREL PGOV RS GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: UPDATE ON KAZBEGI/LARSI CHECKPOINT
NEGOTIATIONS WITH RUSSIA

REF: TBILISI 2280

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4 (b)
and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Georgia's lead negotiator for the talks with
Russia on opening the Kazbegi/Larsi checkpoint told us that
Georgia is waiting for Russia to respond to the most recent
Georgia proposal that would open the border point between
Russia and Georgia in early March. The agreement would allow
Georgian citizens to cross; however, they would need Russian
visas which remain extremely difficult to obtain. MFA
officials speculated that Russia was generally surprised
about the concessions made by the Georgian side, and were
uncertain as to what to do. While skeptical an agreement
will be reached soon, the negotiator cited the massive
investment by Russia on their border facility as a potential
impetus that could contribute to an agreement. End Summary.


2. (C) Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Director
for European Affairs Kakha Chitaia provided Poloff with an
assessment of the current situation in Georgian/Russian
negotiations on reopening the Kazbegi/Larsi checkpoint.
Chitaia, who leads the Georgian negotiating team on this
issue, noted in particular that the tentative agreement
currently being reviewed in Moscow would allow for limited
crossing by Georgian citizens. Chitaia, however, stressed
that while this might sound like a significant breakthrough
on paper, this was more perception than reality, as Georgians
would still need valid Russian visas which were currently
unobtainable for all but those with Russian families or
medical emergencies. Georgia's main goal was to facilitate
the crossing of Georgian citizens who live in the immediate
area, but it remains to be seen if the final version of any
agreement will continue to include this stipulation.


3. (C) Chitaia stressed that the ball was in the Russians'
court, as the Georgians had sent their comments on a draft
agreement (based on an earlier 1993 agreement) in early
January, but had not yet heard back. Chitaia noted that he
did not expect a quick response, but he was growing
increasingly worried in light of the plan to open the
crossing at the beginning of March, and wondered if the
Russians actually were surprised at the number of concessions
the Georgians had made, and did not know what to do. Chitaia
stated his personal opinion that he would in no way be
surprised if nothing happened in the near term, and seemed
generally pessimistic about the situation.


4. (C) Taking his pessimism into account, he sought to
balance this by describing his impressions of the Russian
facility at the checkpoint. Chitaia stressed that of all the
Russian border crossings he had seen, including in
Kaliningrad, there was nothing like the extensive
construction that had taken place at Kazbegi/Larsi. He
estimated that the Russians must have spent upwards of USD 35
million on the facilities, and this gave him hope that
eventually the Russians would want it to be used. (Embassy
note: The new Georgian border crossing facility was
completed at Kazbegi was completed with USG assistance and
formally handed over to the Georgian Government in August

2009. End note.)
BASS