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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 001046 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS EUR/RPM - (G. ROBBINS) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/04/2027 
TAGS: PARM KCFE NATO PREL CA
SUBJECT: CANADIANS BACK UNIFIED ALLIANCE RESPONSE TO 
RUSSIA'S CFE CONCERNS 
 
REF: STATE 75293 
 
Classified By: PolMinCouns Brian Flora.  Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: Canada's position on the Conventional Forces 
in Europe Treaty (CFE) is closely aligned with our own: CFE 
is critical to European security and the Russians must 
deliver on their Istanbul Commitments before NATO allies 
ratify the Adapted CFE (A/CFE).  Canada would like to join 
like-minded allies in a concerted effort to ensure that our 
position prevails at the Extraordinary Conference called by 
the Russian Federation.  Canadian Ambassador to the OSCE 
Barbara Gibson will head the Canadian delegation to the 
Conference, June 12-15.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) We conveyed reftel demarche to Department of Foreign 
Affairs and International Trade acting NATO/G-8/OSCE Director 
Isabelle Poupart, and to Department of National Defense (DND) 
NATO Deputy Director Michael Kaduck on June 1.  We followed 
up with Poupart on June 4. 
 
U.S and Canada Share Agree on A/CFE 
----------------------------------- 
¶3.  (C) Poupart responded that Canada's position on the 
Adapted Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty was closely 
aligned with those of the U.S., the UK, the Netherlands, and 
"newer NATO members."  Canada, she added, would continue to 
press allies attending the Extraordinary Conference to stick 
to NATO's long-standing position -- the Russians must deliver 
on their Istanbul Commitments before NATO allies commence 
ratification of A/CFE. 
 
German Perfidy? 
--------------- 
¶4.  (C/NF) Poupart alerted us to a rumor in Vienna that 
Germany had helped Russia plan its effort to break NATO 
solidarity on A/CFE.  She noted that at various European 
venues the Germans had recently begun telling NATO members, 
"Let's find something to offer the Russians."  The proposed 
offering, according to Canadian diplomats, was NATO member 
ratification of A/CFE without Istanbul pre-conditions. 
Indeed, Poupart confided, a French official had very recently 
floated the German proposal to drop A/CFE preconditions in an 
informal conversation with a Canadian diplomat in Vienna. 
The Canadian, she said, stuck to his nation's position and 
pushed back hard. 
 
¶5.  (C/NF) Clearly frustrated, the usually circumspect 
Poupart attributed the German approach to two factors:  (1) 
"old school, legalistic" German non-proliferation experts had 
managed to convince the GOG that bringing A/CFE into force 
was a more important immediate good than Russian adherence to 
its Istanbul Commitments; and, (2) the perceived need to 
"appease" the Russians in order to enhance Germany's energy 
security. 
 
Solidarity Critical 
------------------- 
¶6.  (C) It was critical, Poupart said, for the allies to 
argue their points and come to consensus well before the 
start of the Exceptional Conference on June 12, and then to 
stick to the consensus in the face of Russian, and German, 
pressure.  Canada, the U.S., the UK, and perhaps the Dutch, 
should consider having a pre-meeting on June 11, she said. 
The parties could share last-minute assessments and 
coordinate their approach to the Conference.  Canadian 
Qcoordinate their approach to the Conference.  Canadian 
official experts would soon reach out directly to their 
counterparts to organize such a meeting. 
 
DND's Informal Analysis 
----------------------- 
¶7.  (C/NF) DND's Kaduck told us that Russia's motivation for 
calling the CFE Extraordinary Conference remained unclear. 
Just back from Canada-Russia military staff talks in Moscow, 
he speculated that Russian complaints about the CFE might be 
a pretext, part of an effort to fracture NATO solidarity. 
Russia's "poorly conceived and unpersuasive" laundry list of 
concerns suggested, he argued, that the Russians had 
 
OTTAWA 00001046  002 OF 002 
 
 
something other than flank entitlements, Istanbul 
Commitments, and A/CFE ratification in mind.  Kaduck said his 
personal impression was that the Russians were feeling 
"humiliated and encircled" and were particularly "bugged" by 
the deployment of U.S. missile defense in Europe (in 
particular its radar system).  While the U.S. and NATO 
refused to link the disparate elements of defense policy 
affecting Russia, Kaduck said, the GOR tended to "glue them 
together and see a plot against (Russia)."  Kaduck emphasized 
that his were personal observations, and that he did not 
anticipate Russia's unwarranted worries causing a 
recalibration of Canada's policy settings. 
 
Canadian Delegation 
------------------- 
¶8.  (U) Canada's Ambassador to the OSCE Barbara Gibson 
planned to head the Canadian delegation, with support from a 
team of experts who have decades of combined CFE experience. 
DFAIT Director General for Policy Planning John Barratt, DND 
Head of Verification Colonel D.S. Higgins, and DFAIT's 
Isabelle Poupart will support Ambassador Gibson. 
 
Visit our shared North American Partnership blog (Canada & Mexico) at 
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap 
 
WILKINS