VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHVEN #0167/01 1791603
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271603Z JUN 08
FM USMISSION USOSCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5803
INFO RUCNCFE/CONVENTIONAL ARMED FORCES IN EUROPE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEASWA/DTRA ALEX WASHINGTON DC//OSAE
RUESDT/DTRA-OSES DARMSTADT GE
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5-DDPMA-IN/CAC/DDPMA-E//
RUEAHQA/HQ USAF WASHINGTON DC//XONP//

UNCLAS USOSCE 000167 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR VCI/CCA, EUR/RPM 
NSC FOR DOWLEY 
JCS FOR J5 NORWOOD, COL SMITH 
OSD FOR ISA (PERENYI) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCFE OSCE PARM PREL
SUBJECT: CFE/JCG: JUNE 27, 2008 PLENARY - RUSSIA CLAIMS TO 
BE READY, WILLING AND ABLE 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified; please protect accordingly.  Not 
for Internet. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  During the June 27 JCG Plenary, Greece 
(Sourani), supported by the U.S., Germany, the UK, Turkey, 
Bulgaria, France and Romania, raised the issue of Russia's 
latest inspection refusal and called on Russia to resume its 
implementation of the CFE Treaty.  The U.S., Germany and the 
UK further called for Russia to engage seriously on the basis 
if the parallel actions package.  Russia (Ulyanov) 
underscored that its inspection refusals had no linkage to 
Russia's interest in working with its Treaty partners to 
resolve the current impasse, emphasizing that Russia stands 
ready to engage in all formats while it is Russia's 
colleagues that do not appear to share a similar readiness. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Germany (Richter) underscored there has been 
substantive discussion in the JCG and noted that Germany 
would make a further contribution to this discussion on 
either 8 or 15 July through a presentation on the basis of 
the NAC Statement by drawing from Treaty text and "other" 
texts to address the issues of stationing, limitations and 
the modalities of accession.  At the JCG-T that preceded the 
JCG Plenary, Allies received a preview of the proposed German 
presentation.  A few indicated some concerns and Germany 
(Richter) welcomed input assuring all he would then "see what 
could be incorporated."  Allies also agreed to wait until the 
July 15 JCG to address Russia's anticipated failure to 
provide its July 1 supplemental data.  End Summary. 
 
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JCG PLENARY - RUSSIA CLAIMS TO REMAIN READY, WILLING AND ABLE 
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¶3.  (SBU)  At the Luxembourg-chaired June 27 JCG Plenary, 
Greece (Sourani) noted Russia's refusal of a Greek CFE 
inspection notification for the week of June 23, expressed 
concern with the ongoing impasse over CFE - the cornerstone 
of European security - and called for intensifying efforts to 
overcome the impasse to include full implementation as an 
essential element of ensuring the viability of CFE.  A number 
of Allies (UK, TR, BG, DE, FR, RO) along with the U.S. spoke 
in support of Greece, echoing concerns with Russia's 
continued inspection refusals and urging Russia to resume 
implementation.  (Comment: After the JCG, Greece noted its 
appreciation to the USDel for encouraging supporting 
interventions, particularly in the case of Turkey. End 
comment) 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  The UK (Hartnell) specified that Russia's 
"suspension" has no basis in the Treaty or customary 
international law and called for Russia to work on the basis 
of the parallel actions package.  Germany (Richter), 
lamenting that the prolonged moratorium was contributing to 
the slow death of CFE, remarked that it was reasonable to 
expect a commensurate level response from Russia to the March 
28 NAC Statement proposal, supported by the Heads of 
State/Government of 26 States. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  The U.S. (Neighbour) reiterated that Russia's 
continuing "suspension" has no basis in the Treaty or 
customary international law, damages near term prospects for 
ratification of a/CFE, and has the potential to undermine the 
CFE regime.  Neighbour recalled the March 28 NAC Statement on 
CFE and paragraph 42 of the Bucharest Summit Communique and 
urged Russia to resume Treaty implementation and to engage 
seriously on the basis of the parallel actions package. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Russian Chief Arms Control Delegate Ulyanov took 
issue with the notion (as expressed the week prior in the 
U.S. statement) that its inspection refusals had any linkage 
to a lack of interest on the part of Russia to work with its 
Treaty partners to resolve the current impasse.  Ulyanov 
claimed any such linkage was based on a false premise 
considering that Russia has confirmed many times its 
readiness to work in all formats and was not to blame for a 
lack of substantive dialogue in the JCG or for the 
 
ineffectiveness of the bilateral channel.  He reminded all 
that Russia remains prepared to work together to get CFE back 
on course, but does not see a similar level of readiness on 
the part of Russia's colleagues. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Germany (Richter) questioned Russia's assertion 
that no new work had been accomplished in the JCG, noting 
there had been substantive discussion.  Moreover, Richter 
noted that Germany would make a further contribution through 
a presentation on the basis of the NAC Statement that would 
address issues of stationing, limitations and the modalities 
of accession according to Treaty text and "other texts." 
Richter proposed either 8 or 15 July for this presentation 
depending on the availability of delegations as delegation 
arms control reps have been invited by Georgia to participate 
in the OSCE visit to Georgia the week of 7 July.  (GUIDANCE 
REQUEST:  The presentation was previewed at the JCG-T (see 
below) that met just prior to the JCG plenary.  USDel will 
forward the draft German presentation to D.C. via email for 
review and comment.  Richter made it clear to us he will 
welcome any U.S. edits and suggestions.) 
 
¶8.  (U)  The JCG approved JCG.DEC/2/08 appointing Pierre 
Linteau, Canada, as the new Treaty Operation and 
Implementation (TOI) Group Chairman. 
 
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JCG-T PLUS 4 - GERMANY PREVIEWS PRESENTATION 
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¶9. (SBU)  The JCG-T plus 4, chaired by the U.S. (Neighbour), 
met just prior to the JCG plenary at which time German senior 
military advisor Wolfgang Richter provided a preview of his 
proposed presentation ("Implications of the ACFE Limitation 
Regime for the Discussion of the NATO Council Statement of 28 
March 2008") aimed at contributing to discussions "without 
negotiating anything."  Richter's intent is to recall 
relevant provisions from the adapted CFE Treaty and text from 
relevant NATO documents as regards permanent stationing, 
headroom, substantial combat forces, mechanisms for changes 
to ceilings, and how to determine ceilings for new States 
Parties.  Germany proposed in the JCG-T this presentation 
over a month ago to combat misunderstanding (and 
misinformation) within the JCG, to respond to some of the 
issues Ulyanov has raised, and to bring the JCG discussion 
"back to the Treaty framework."  The content covers basic 
definitions and provisions, but also delves into the 
"geopolitical context" in an effort to emphasize the basic 
principles of a/CFE to prevent destabilizing force 
concentrations at regional and sub-regional levels and to 
account for the security concerns of all States Parties. 
 
¶10. (SBU)  Germany is open to individual input from 
delegations, but resistant to any further review in the JCG-T 
with Richter noting that it is not standard practice to 
review a presentation several times.  Both the Netherlands 
(Kleinjan) and Latvia (Nilsons) expressed specific concern 
with slide number 11 which could be misinterpreted as a 
reference to Baltic ceilings and temporary deployments 
despite Richter's assurances it was not intended as such but 
rather a general example.  In addition to pointing out one of 
the maps appeared as if Romania and Moldova were one country, 
Romania (Neculaescu) noted the need for a close review due to 
some doubts with the overall presentation.  The U.S. 
(Neighbour), as chair, encouraged delegations to provide 
comments and urged Germany to time the presentation 
accordingly to ensure sufficient time for review in capitals. 
 Germany had intended to present on 8 July, but subsequently 
broadened the window to 8 or 15 July when announcing the 
presentation in the JCG. 
 
¶11. (SBU)  Allies also agreed to wait until the July 15 JCG 
to address Russia's anticipated failure to provide its July 1 
supplemental data.  Turkey (Begec) noted it would coordinate 
with the non-NATO "flank partners" to encourage statements 
expressing concern with Russia's non-compliance. 
 
¶12. (U)  The next JCG Plenary, to be chaired by Luxembourg, 
will take place on Tuesday, July 8 (skipping a week due to 
the July 1-2 ASRC.)  The date of the JCG-T will be determined 
by the next chair, Belgium. 
FINLEY