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RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
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RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 4073
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2038
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000793 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/07/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV SNUC UN RS BM
SUBJECT: RUSSIA IN BURMA: UN ROLES; NUCLEAR COOPERATION; 
BILATERAL RELATIONS 
 
Classified By: CDA Dinger; Section 1.4 (b) & (d) 
 
Russia an interlocutor with the Burmese regime 
--------------------------------------------- - 
¶1. (C) Charge's Oct. 7 courtesy call on Russian Ambassador to 
Burma Mikhail Mgeladze included discussion of current UN 
efforts to influence events in Burma and a sketch of Russia's 
activities in country.  Many political observers in Rangoon 
believe Russia has more access to influential Government of 
Burma (GoB) officials than most in the diplomatic community. 
Mgeladze acknowledged he has a degree of access, but he 
proposed that no outside power, not Russia, certainly not 
India (where Mgeladze has spent much of his career), and not 
even China has the sway to influence the Burmese generals on 
core security issues. 
 
The UN and Burma: a Russian perspective 
--------------------------------------- 
¶2. (C) Mgeladze reported that Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan 
Win met with UN Special Representative for Burma Gambari on 
the margins of the FM's visit to New York for the UNGA. 
Russia understands the two discussed all five topics on 
Gambari's announced agenda for Burma and achieved some 
progress.  Thus, Russia believes Gambari intends to return to 
Burma within the next month or so to continue his mission. 
Mgeladze predicts the next Gambari visit will include a 
meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, if ASSK permits that, and very 
possibly an appointment with Senior General Than Shwe. 
Mgeladze is less confident about a visit to Burma by SYG Ban 
in December, noting that public statements from New York 
indicate any such SYG visit will depend on future 
circumstances. 
 
Russia lobbying GoB on UN issues 
-------------------------------- 
¶3. (C) Mgeladze said he has been raising with GoB ministers 
that it is in Burma's interest to be responsive to the UN 
agenda.  That includes organizing internationally acceptable 
elections in 2010, and allowing UN monitoring of same. 
Russia has also suggested the GoB should release more 
political prisoners, though Mgeladze noted the GoB claims all 
current prisoners have violated various laws and, thus, are 
not "political."  Mgeladze said he has advocated dialogue 
between the GoB and opposition elements, including ASSK; but 
he added that if ASSK wants a meaningful role for herself in 
Burma's political future she must accept the Burmese 
military's own important political role.  Mgeladze suggested 
ASSK's past acknowledgment of the Burmese military's 
inevitable role was "weak."  Russia accepts that in Asia 
political evolution is often slow, deliberate, but see that 
as better than sudden movement that could easily destabilize. 
 Mgeladze made clear: "Russia does not want a disintegrated 
Burma." 
 
No aid, some commerce, comments on nuclear coop 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
¶4. (C) Mgeladze acknowledged a bilateral Russia-Burma 
nuclear-cooperation agreement signed in 2006; but he said 
nothing has come of it yet, since the intent - to build a 
civilian nuclear-power plant similar to one Russia is 
constructing in southern India - is purely a commercial deal 
and the Burmese have not come up with the necessary funding. 
Also, the GoB would need to negotiate an additional protocol 
with the IAEA.  Asked about media reports that Russia is 
training thousands of Burmese in nuclear science, Mgeladze 
said a program begun within the last two or three years has 
provided Russian-language training to about a thousand 
Burmese at a school near Mandalay.  (Note: There are 
suggestions that the students are young military officers, 
though Mgeladze made no such mention.  The "near Mandalay" 
location have been an oblique reference to the Defense 
Services Academy and/or the Defense Services Technical 
Academy, both in Pyin Oo Lwin near Mandalay.  End note.)  The 
students travel to Russia for tertiary studies in a range of 
disciplines, "not just physics."  Mgeladze implied that the 
GoB funds the education, saying that Russia provides "no aid" 
to Burma these days, not even humanitarian assistance. 
 
RANGOON 00000793  002 OF 002 
 
 
Russia is now "very pragmatic" when it comes to aid, and 
Burma doesn't rise high enough in Moscow's calculations. 
Mgeladze said that, with the demise of the Soviet Union and 
economic difficulties in the 1990s, Russia halved its 
diplomatic presence in Rangoon (now 11 Moscow-based) and 
eliminated past cultural and aid programs.  He added that 
Moscow has no intention to reverse that course. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶5. (C) Some Rangoon observers suggest the Burmese generals 
see Russia as a potential counterweight to China, India, even 
the U.S.  Mgeladze observed that, after Cyclone Nargis last 
May, it was obvious the generals saw American warships off 
the Burma cost as an invasion threat, not a helping hand. 
While Mgeladze in the conversation with Charge was very 
likely under-stating the Russia-Burma relationship, it also 
seems likely that, as described, Russia's interest in Burma 
is relatively modest these days.  The Russian embassy in 
Rangoon, built in the days of the USSR, is cavernous but 
appears almost eerily under-occupied. 
DINGER