CFE/VCC: VCC EXPERTS AND CFE ALLOCATIONS FOR THE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 USNATO 000041 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2020 TAGS: KCFE NATO PARM PREL MCAP MASS MARR XG ZK SUBJECT: CFE/VCC: VCC EXPERTS AND CFE ALLOCATIONS FOR THE 15TH YEAR OF THE RESIDUAL PERIOD Classified By: D/POLAD Alejandro "Hoot" Baez for reasons 1.4(B)&(D). ¶1. (S) At the 17 December Verification Coordination Committee Experts Meeting the U.S. secured the following CFE inspections for the 15th year of the residual period beginning 16 March: Non- Russian Inspections: - 1 Quota Inspection in Azerbaijan - 1 Quota Inspection in Ukraine - 1 Flank Inspection in Ukraine - 3 Additional Paid Inspections in Ukraine Inspections in Russia: - 4 Quota Inspections in the Russian Federation - 7 Quota Inspections of Objects of Verification (OOVs) eligible for Flank Supplementary Inspections in the Russian Federation - 7 Supplementary Flank Inspections in the Russian Federation. -------------- 2010 VCC Activities Calendar Deconfliction -------------- ¶2. (C) Allies began the VCC Experts meeting by deconflicting the 2010 calendar. Aside from minor administrative corrections, Allies agreed, in principle, not to schedule activities in consecutive weeks for countries that have a limited capability to support incoming teams. As a result, Allies rescheduled activities in Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, and Serbia to ensure at least a one-week break between activities. The deconflicted calendar has been distributed under AC/319-WP(2009)0006-REV5. (Note. - Georgia was initially identified for rescheduling. However, several Allies noted that Georgia had urged Allies to conduct activities in Georgia and to schedule them early in the year, presumably to exhaust quotas before Russia has a chance to notify an activity. Therefore, the schedules for activities in Georgia were unchanged. End Note.) ¶3. (C) Turkey raised the issue of whether Allies should accept invitations from partners for slots as guest inspectors/evaluators if the uncoordinated activity will result in the loss of an opportunity by another Ally. Hungary, Estonia, the UK, France and Belgium argued that Allies should be allowed to accept the invitation since the alternative, to decline the invitation, would mean that NATO would lose all access for that activity. Turkey and Norway countered that, as a matter of principle, Allies should decline such invitations. The Experts Chair (Wiederholtz) announced that this issue would be raised at the next VCC on 21 Jan. -------------- Any Other Business -------------- ¶4. (C) At the beginning of the meeting the Chair (Wiederholtz) announced that Germany had broken silence on AC/319-N(2009)0038, Experts Tasking VD99. According to Wiederholtz, Germany's statement was that the discussion of issues on improving VD99 was more appropriate for Vienna and not at the VCC. Germany stated they wanted to discuss the issue at the next VCC meeting. Wiederholtz announced that the IS would raise this issue in the VCC in January. ¶5. (SBU) Wiederholtz requested that Nations provide initial CFE inspection schedules to the IS by 15 January. Experts would meet the morning of 21 January to deconflict the CFE inspection calendar. -------------- On the Margins -------------- USNATO 00000041 002 OF 002 ¶6. (C) Norway (Dalaaker) asked to meet separately with countries holding VD 99 quotas for activities in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Dalaaker reported that he talked to verification representatives from Switzerland, Austria, Finland and Sweden in an attempt to deconflict NATO's activities in the aforementioned countries of interest. (Note. At the November VCC , Allies agreed, in principle, to schedule their inspections to these countries during periods of military activity. By refraining from inspecting these countries until Summer/Autumn - the periods in which these countries habitually conduct major training exercises - Allies risk losing inspection opportunities to partners. Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria are the partner countries most likely to conduct an inspection in these countries. End Note.) Dalaaker reported that Austria and Switzerland were not planning to conduct inspections in Russia. Finland and Sweden plan on conducting activities in Russia and Belarus, but Finland was open to informal coordination and Sweden was planning no activity until October. Switzerland was planning an inspection to Kazakhstan sometime before expected Allied inspections. Dalaaker suggested that Allies should consider offering inspection slots to Finland or Sweden, and indicated that he would keep Allies informed of any additional contacts. ¶7. (C) Having just returned from the Heads of Verification (HOV) meeting in Vienna, Wiederholz reported in the Experts meeting that the Russian delegation stated that their verification center planned to reduce its personnel strength by 100, or by nearly one third. On the margins, Wiederholtz reported to USDel that the head of the Russian arms control delegation in Vienna (Ulyanov) had told the German Delegation, during a bilateral meeting, that Russia would be content to "let CFE sleep" in 2010 in favor of focusing attention on revising VD 99. (Note. Wiederholtz did not indicate whether Ulyanov was referring to the Russian Federation, or the Russian delegation in Vienna. End Note.) DAALDER