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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 002597 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR D AND EAP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/08/2027 
TAGS: ASEAN ETRD PREL EXBS MG
SUBJECT: THE DEPUTY SECRETARY'S MEETING WITH MONGOLIAN 
DEPUTY FM TSOLMON 
 
Classified By: Deputy Secretary Negroponte, reasons 1.4 c, d 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Mongolian Deputy Foreign Minister Tserendash 
Tsolmon offered to host Six Party working group meetings, 
 
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requested U.S. support for its APEC membership bid, and 
discussed the possibility of signing Mongolia's Millennium 
Challenge Compact during President Enkhbayar's fall visit to 
Washington during an August 1 meeting with Deputy Secretary 
Negroponte on the margins of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) 
in Manila.  The Deputy Secretary also encouraged Tsolmon to 
consider an alternative to Mongolia's proposal for a 
bilateral Comprehensive Partnership Framework Agreement 
(CPFA).  END SUMMARY. 
 
Introduction 
------------ 
 
¶2. (C) Deputy FM Tsolmon noted that this is the 20th 
anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two 
countries, which will culminate with Mongolian President 
Enkhbayar's visit to the United States in October.  Tsolmon 
said that he hoped that one outcome of President Enkhbayar's 
planned visit to the U.S. in the autumn would be the 
conclusion of the Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC). 
 
Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) The Deputy Secretary expressed hope that the Compact 
would be completed and ready for signature this autumn. 
Since a lot of work has already occurred, including during 
Assistant Secretary Hill's recent visit to Mongolia, Deputy 
Secretary Negroponte opined that it might be possible to have 
 
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the document's signing coincide with President Enkhbayar's 
proposed visit to Washington in the fall. 
 
Comprehensive Partnership Framework Agreement (CPFA) 
 
¶5. (C) Tsolmon noted several times during the discussion 
his country's key foreign policy goal of maintaining 
"balanced relations" given its strategic location between two 
massive neighbors, Russia and China.  As a result, in 
Mongolia's view, the country needed a third force to maintain 
a more equal balance, namely the United States.  According to 
Tsolmon, his country was previously in a position of "no 
 
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balance" but now has "rather" balanced relationships. 
Politically, there is a general openness with both China and 
Russia, and Mongolia hopes to have the same with the U.S. 
Tsolmon suggested that Mongolia wants to conclude negotiation 
 
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of a Comprehensive Partnership Framework Agreement (CPFA) by 
the time of President Enkhbayar's visit to the U.S. as a way 
to solidify bilateral relations.  He conceded that it was 
unusual for the U.S. to sign this type of agreement, but said 
Mongolia had similar ones with Russia and China. 
 
¶6. (C) The Deputy Secretary said that while the U.S. 
certainly wants to deepen ties with Mongolia, it remains 
unclear whether such an agreement was the best way to go 
about this.  The document as proposed would be legally 
binding and the U.S. is not prepared at this time to 
undertake such a step.  The Deputy Secretary suggested that 
an alternative would be to continue discussions to achieve a 
nonbinding declaration encompassing areas like peace and 
security, cultural exchanges, and education.  The U.S. would 
look at possible alternatives. 
 
APEC Membership & Six Party Talks 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Tsolmon expressed a desire for Mongolia to 
join APEC.  Acknowledging that there is a moratorium on 
expanding APEC membership until the end of 2007, he said he 
hoped Mongolia could join soon with U.S. support. 
 
¶8. (C) Observing that Mongolia is the only country in 
Northeast Asia not involved in the Six-Party Talks, DFM 
Tsolmon said Mongolia is hoping to end that "discrimination" 
 
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and proposed that a working group on peace and security meet 
in Mongolia.  He also said Mongolia had offered to host the 
Japan-DPRK bilateral working of the Six Party Talks. 
 
¶9. (C) Deputy Secretary Negroponte noted that APEC might not 
 
MANILA 00002597  002 OF 002 
 
 
be ready to lift the membership moratorium until 2010.  He 
stressed the importance of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula 
and said that while the current Six Party structure is set, 
over time there may be opportunities in the future to allow 
for participation from other parties. 
 
Iraq 
 
¶10. (C) Deputy Secretary Negroponte thanked Mongolia for its 
contribution of troops to Iraq and noted that they were 
valued greatly.  He expressed the hope that Iraq would 
continue to receive such support from the Mongolian people. 
 
¶12.  (U) August 1,2007; 0900-0930 hours; Manila, Philippines. 
 
¶14.  (U)  Meeting Participants:  nine 
 
U.S. 
Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte 
Kaye Lee, Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State 
Edith Spruill, Notetaker 
 
Mongolia 
 
Deputy Foreign Minister Tserendash Tsolmon 
Ms. Shagdar Rinchenmyadag, Department of Multilateral 
Cooperation 
Antonio A. Rufino, Honorary Consul General 
KENNEY