VZCZCXRO7932
PP RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #0744 0781233
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181233Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7191
INFO RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4363

UNCLAS MOSCOW 000744 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL CH RS
SUBJECT: LAVROV LINKS TIBET UNREST TO KOSOVO 
 
REF: BEIJING 975 
 
¶1.  Foreign Minister Lavrov linked the recent unrest in Tibet 
to Kosovo, telling the press that the violence in Lhasa had 
not occurred "by chance."  In an interview published March 18 
in Rossiskaya Gazeta, Lavrov used Tibet to demonstrate how 
Kosovo's independence had "already reverberated" among 
separatists in various parts of the world, warning that "we 
are at the beginning of a very precarious process." 
 
¶2.  The MFA expressed a familiar position on the Tibetan 
unrest, issuing a brief March 17 statement that said this was 
an "internal matter" for China to resolve.  The statement 
went on to say that Russia hoped Chinese authorities would 
"take all necessary measures to end illegal actions and 
secure an early return to normalcy," failing to condemn the 
GOC crackdown in Lhasa (reftel).  The MFA reiterated that 
Russia considered Tibet an "integral part" of China and 
resolving relations with the Dali Lama "an internal affair." 
In a reference to calls by human right campaigners to boycott 
the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, the MFA said 
attempts to politicize the Olympics were "unacceptable" and 
expressed confidence in China's ability to organize and 
provide security for the games. 
 
¶3.  Alexey Maslov, an Asia expert at Moscow State University, 
went a step further than Lavrov, telling RIA Novesti that the 
U.S. was behind the Tibetan unrest.  The USG was using the 
"Kosovar script" to incite an armed independence struggle 
against China prior to the Olympic games, according to 
Maslov, who predicted that the U.S. Congress would take steps 
to boycott the Olympics and introduce political sanctions 
against China in response to events in Tibet. 
BURNS