VZCZCXRO5768
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHCH #1273/01 2951136
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 221136Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5810
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHISINAU 001273 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/21/2017 
TAGS: PREL KCFE OSCE PARM MD
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT VORONIN SUPPORTS U.S. CFE PROPOSALS 
 
REF: SECSTATE 146521 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Michael D. Kirby for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  In a cordial meeting with President Voronin, 
DAS David Kramer presented elements of our forward-leaning 
CFE package proposals delivered in Moscow.  Arriving in 
Moldova after his Moscow talks, Kramer said the U.S. had 
presented this package to the Russians, and is waiting for 
the Russian response.  The goal is to get the Russians to 
agree to remain within CFE.  In that regard we have 
encouraged the Russians to help restart the stalled 
Transnistria talks as soon as possible.  The three-part 
package relevant for Moldova involves agreement on (1) a 
meeting involving the 5 2 to make a serious push on a 
Transnistrian settlement that would in turn create conditions 
for the rest of the package, (2) the removal, or destruction 
in place, of the munitions at Kolbasna; and (3) the 
introduction of a new OSCE mandate to have civilian observers 
monitoring the peacekeepers, with the goal of 
demilitarization.  President Voronin strongly approved this 
package approach.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Linking Transnistria Settlement to CFE 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) In an October 19 meeting, DAS David Kramer, the 
Ambassador, and EUR/RPM Deputy Director Jennifer Laurendeau 
briefed President Voronin on the recent 2 plus 2 meetings in 
Moscow on CFE, as well as Kramer's own talks there which took 
place earlier.  Kramer thought the Russians would take no 
further actions to fulfill their Istanbul commitments, and if 
this continued until December 12, would go ahead with their 
announced suspension of CFE.  The USG is thus trying to find 
creative ways to elicit further movement in the context of a 
package approach linking a Transnistria settlement to CFE 
ratification.  Kramer made that linkage clear to the 
Russians.  The USG insists Russia has to move forward on 
Istanbul commitments, while the Russians believe (1) there is 
no link between Istanbul and CFE and (2) in any case, they 
have already fulfilled what they undertook to do in Istanbul. 
 Kramer suggested to Voronin that if the Russians withdrew on 
December 12, any further movement on these issues would be 
virtually impossible. 
 
¶3. (C) Kramer said he found his counterpart during the CFE 
talks in Moscow, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigoriy Karasin, to 
be a decent professional, in sharp contrast to the 
notoriously-difficult Russian negotiator for Transnistria, 
Nesterushkin.  Karasin gave the impression that the Russian 
side wants a resumption of talks, though Kramer thinks 
Karasin's hands are tied.  Kramer had stressed that absent 
Russian pressure on Transnistria to resume the talks, there 
would be no progress on a Transnistria settlement and Russian 
troop withdrawal.  Kramer said Secretary Rice had endorsed 
efforts to get the Transnistria talks back on track. 
Starting the process of CFE ratification would be contingent 
upon Russian agreement to the CFE package presented in 
Moscow.  Kramer said that the Russians want the allies to 
move forward with ratification, but the USG cannot move 
forward unless we have an agreement in principle on the 
Moldova commitments.  Ratification could come in phases, with 
some of the allies ratifying earlier than others; the USG 
might be one of the last to ratify. 
 
The Three-Point Package 
----------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Kramer explained the parts of the CFE package relevant 
for Moldova.  Step one would be to get the Transnistria talks 
resumed.  Next would be to either remove or destroy in place 
the Russian armaments at Colbasna.  Voronin and Kramer agreed 
this would be easy to accomplish if the Russians decided that 
they wanted to do it.  Kramer stressed the need for 
transparency and preliminary site inspection, as there have 
been many reports that the Transnistrians have long since 
sold the munitions, and no one knows for sure what is there. 
Some discussion ensued about the possibility of destruction 
of munitions on site.  As the Russians have frequently argued 
that the Transnistrians would not allow them to remove the 
munitions, in situ destruction might be a better alternative. 
 During the Moscow talks the Russians said that objections 
came from Ukraine and Moldova.  Voronin said that Moldova had 
no problem with in situ destruction and undertook to reach 
out to Ukraine to consider a joint statement that Ukraine and 
Moldova would support in situ destruction of Russian 
armaments.  With the armaments gone, all agreed there would 
be no need for the 600 soldiers guarding Colbasna to remain 
in Transnistria. 
 
¶5. (C) Taking into account Voronin's previous comments that 
no fighting would break out if peacekeepers were withdrawn, 
Kramer proposed a new OSCE mandate to have civilian observers 
 
CHISINAU 00001273  002 OF 002 
 
 
monitoring the peacekeepers with the goal of demilitarizing 
the region.  Voronin and his advisor Marc Tkacuk were both 
very pleased with this idea.  Voronin suggested a deal with 
the Ukrainians, that both Moldova and Ukraine start by 
unilaterally removing their peacekeepers, to be replaced by 
OSCE civilian observers.  Withdrawal of troops and munitions 
would mean that the backbone would be taken out of the 
Transnistria regime.  Some movement in the settlement process 
would be necessary before the Russians would take this step. 
 
Next Steps on Transnistria 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Ambassador Kirby said that both he and David Kramer 
will attend the OSCE-sponsored informal 5 plus 2 get together 
in Odessa October 23.  President Voronin promised he would 
issue a press release emphasizing Moldova's readiness to 
return to 5 plus 2 negotiations without any pre-conditions. 
Ambassador Kirby praised President Voronin's useful public 
diplomacy in the past weeks, reaching out to the 
Transnistrian people directly via interviews in 
Russian-language press.  The Ambassador mentioned his 
September trip to Tiraspol, in which he had met with both the 
obstinate Transnistrian Foreign Minister Litskai, as well as 
the more constructive Parliamentary speaker Shevchuk.  The 
Ambassador had also attended the October 11 3 plus 2 meetings 
in Vienna, and expressed conviction that the upcoming Finnish 
chair will provide better leadership than the Spanish 
presidency had.  He expects the Finnish chairman to come to 
Moldova by the end of January or February, but to send 
someone earlier in December to start the process. 
 
Moldova Working to Improve Relations with the Russians 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶7. (C) President Voronin spoke of his participation in the 
October 5-7 CIS Summit in Dushanbe where he brought up 
Transnistria during his brief bilateral with Russian 
President Putin.  Voronin reported his impression that the 
Kremlin was playing one game, and the Russian MFA was playing 
another, while Putin was simply unaware of what was going on 
in Transnistria.  Their meeting did not result in any 
agreements to achieve any kind of breakthrough, and was just 
an exchange of impressions.  In response to DAS Kramer's 
direct question asking whether Voronin was optimistic that 
Putin wanted to solve Transnistria, the Moldovan President 
responded ironically "not very much." 
 
¶8. (C) President Voronin said he has been working to improve 
his bilateral relations with the Russians, trying to resolve 
all outstanding bilateral issues such as the wine ban, in 
order to clear the plate so that only the Transnistria 
settlement remains.  As an example of improved 
Russian-Moldovan relations, Voronin noted that on Monday 
October 22 an inter-parliamentary commission is expected to 
pay a return visit to Chisinau, following the Moldovan 
delegation's two-day working visit to Moscow.  Most 
outstanding issues are already resolved, so Voronin hopes 
focus on a Transnistria settlement will now be possible. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9. (C) President Voronin clearly welcomed the U.S. 
initiatives and DAS Kramer's engagement, and seemed pleased 
to be offered some new possibility for forward movement.  The 
Moldovan president twice suggested joint action with the 
Ukrainians in support of this package, both on removing 
peacekeepers, and on dropping opposition to in situ munitions 
destruction.  Voronin's confident expectation that the 
Ukrainians would go along with his proposals suggests that he 
is counting on the orange-coalition to be a constructive 
partner in helping to reach a Transnistrian settlement. 
 
¶10. (U) DAS Kramer cleared this cable. 
KIRBY