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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USNATO 000060 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL NATO GG RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR ON NATO, EUROPEAN SECURITY, AND 
GEORGIA 
 
USNATO 00000060  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Russian Ambassador to NATO Dmitri Rogozin 
presented his views on NATO's Strategic Concept, the European 
Security Treaty, and the status of Georgia's borders during a 
January 29 discussion hosted by the EastWest Institute. 
Rogozin pondered NATO's past and future, arguing that 
enlargement had saddled the Alliance with unstable countries 
and asking how NATO proposed to reconcile its Article 5 
commitments with the new challenges taken up in the Strategic 
Concept.  He explained that the proposed European Security 
Treaty showed that Moscow intended to assume its traditional 
role as a European power, and described a new European 
security architecture that resembled a Russian matryoshka 
doll with different layers of alliances and security 
guarantees  Rogozin said it would be "dangerous" for NATO to 
accept Georgia as a member and thought that settling 
unresolved issues in the region should be left to the next 
generation.  End Summary. 
 
NATO Strategic Concept 
---------------------- 
 
¶2.  Russian Ambassador to NATO Dmitri Rogozin covered a range 
of topics during a January 29 discussion on NATO-Russia 
organized by the EastWest Institute.  Ranging from serious to 
sarcastic, Rogozin spoke about the NATO Strategic Concept, 
European Security Treaty (EST), and Georgia before an 
audience consisting of diplomats and academics in Brussels 
and, via video link, New York.  Rogozin said that he looked 
forward to a new NATO Strategic Concept that would foster 
pan-European security and not "antagonize" relations with 
partners.  He asked how NATO would reconcile its Article 5 
commitments with the new challenges that the Alliance wanted 
to tackle, such as energy and cyber security. 
 
¶3.  Rogozin questioned the logic of NATO enlargement, stating 
that if the Alliance enlarged its space it needed to enlarge 
its ability to defend that space.  He argued that enlargement 
had not been carried out in an organized manner but as a 
spontaneous reaction to fill a void in Europe caused by the 
end of the Cold War.  As a result, NATO had gained countries 
with internal instability and external conflicts that had 
destabilized the Alliance.  Czech PermRep to the UN Martin 
Palous responded that the process of NATO and EU enlargement 
had successfully democratized former communist states. 
Rogozin shot back that the democratic process developed in 
other countries as well, adding that he had not been a member 
of the Communist Party as had some of the other Ambassadors 
he sat with on the NATO-Russia Council. 
 
European Security 
----------------- 
 
¶4.  Rogozin explained that Medvedev's EST proposal was an 
attempt by Russia to assume its historic role and traditional 
influence in Europe.  He thought it "strange" that reaction 
to the EST has been what he described as either silence or 
suspicion that the proposal was a Russian plot, and argued it 
should properly be seen as a means to better integrate Russia 
into Europe.  He complained that Russia's partners had failed 
to understand that they had been invited to a discussion on 
how to make Europe more stable. 
 
¶5.  Rogozin stated that Europe needed a new, more sustainable 
security system that he compared to a Russian matryoshka 
doll.  On the exterior was a common security perimeter 
stretching from Vancouver to Vladivostok.  Within were 
alliances and organizations such as NATO, the CSTO and EU, 
each of which had their own "competencies and tasks." 
Rogozin described NATO as an alliance that was reaching 
"pensioner age" and the CSTO as a youngster still finding its 
way.  At the core were individual states that had security 
guarantees either as part of an alliance or individually. 
Rogozin hoped that the NATO-Russia Council would help Europe 
move toward this goal. 
 
¶6.  Rogozin proposed demilitarizing the borders of NATO and 
Russia by "bringing life" back to arms control, including 
ratifying the adapted CFE Treaty.  Accomplishing this task 
would require addressing flank limitations that "cut Russia 
in two."  Russia was also interested in confidence building 
measures that would help avoid potentially dangerous 
 
USNATO 00000060  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
developments on its border with NATO. 
 
Georgia 
------- 
 
¶7.  Rogozin said that Georgia's territorial problems made it 
"dangerous" for NATO to accept the country as a member.  He 
called Georgia's internationally recognized border into 
question, referring to it as a "Stalinist border" that had 
forced the Abkhaz and South Ossetians into the Georgian SSR. 
He thought that with the Soviet collapse it was only fair 
that these nationalities had a chance to regain their 
independence.  Rogozin doubted that it would be possible to 
"settle the Caucasus" anytime soon and thought the issue 
should be left to the "next generation."  This prompted 
Pierre Morel, the EU Special Representative for Central Asia, 
to respond that he was "stunned" by Rogozin's fatalism and 
failure to see a way forward on Georgia. 
DAALDER