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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5960
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C O N F I D E N T I A L USOSCE 000240 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR VCI/CCA, EUR/RPM, EUR/PRA, 
NSC FOR HAYES, JCS FOR J5/NORWOOD/CAMPBELL, 
OSD FOR ISA/PERENYI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2018 
TAGS: KCFE OSCE PARM PREL
SUBJECT: CFE/JCG:  OCTOBER 7 PLENARY MORE OF THE 
SAME--MEMBER STATES PROTEST RUSSIA,S CONTINUED REFUSAL TO 
ALLOW INSPECTIONS 
 
Classified By: Chief Arms Control Delegate Hugh Neighbour, 
for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
 ¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  During the October 7 JCG Plenary, 
Slovakia, the United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic, 
supported by Romania, France, the United States, Turkey, 
Portugal, Italy, and Germany, protested Russia,s latest 
refusals to allow inspections and called on Russia to resume 
implementation of the CFE Treaty.  Russia reiterated that it 
stands ready to work together in official meetings, implying 
that recently everything else has been happening in the 
corridors, or on the margins of official meetings.  This 
plenary was one of the shortest in recent months.  The only 
substantive issue of note was Russia,s refusals of 
inspections.  The JCG-T plus 4 saw more action as Allies 
noted trouble with the draft letter to the Finish CIO for the 
OSCE Ministerial Council.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  The Netherlands chaired the October 7 JCG Plenary. 
 In the now routine protests, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, 
and the Czech Republic voiced their "regret," and 
"disappointment" at the recent Russian refusals of the three 
CFE inspection requests.  Slovakia (Jancovic) commented that 
Russian non-implementation did not contribute to the CFE 
regime.  The U.K. (Gare) and Czech Republic (Reinohlova) 
voiced their continual support for the CFE Treaty referring 
to it as the "cornerstone" of European security.  Romania, 
France, the United States, Turkey, Portugal, Italy, and 
Germany supported the interventions by the three offended 
States Parties. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Russian Chief Arms Control Delegate Ulyanov seemed 
a bit tongue in cheek in responding to the protests.  He 
congratulated JCG colleagues for having reverted to the 
procedures that prevailed in 2004 and 2005 when JCG meetings 
were short and concise with little substantive discussion and 
more a simple run-through of checking off agenda items. 
Ulyanov surmised that the brevity of meetings then was 
probably because "CFE was functioning well" and there was 
little to discuss.  He noted that currently the "only problem 
is with inspections" and that "everything else is running 
smoothly."  Ulyanov characterized recent CFE discussion with 
Assistant Secretary Fried as a "corridor" conversation, and 
suggested that Russia stands ready and available to have 
real, substantive meetings if others are willing. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Under the topic of any other business, the chair 
relayed to delegations that Finland, as OSCE Chair, has 
informed him that the Ministerial Declaration will not be 
discussed in Vienna but will be handled by capitals. 
 
JCG-T plus 4:  Allies to Continue Review of Draft Letter from 
the JCG-Chair for Helsinki Minsterial 
 
¶5.  (C)  During the JCG-T plus 4, which met a day prior to 
the JCG Plenary, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, and the Czech 
Republic gave heads up that they would raise Russia,s 
refusals of their countries, notifications to inspect.   The 
Dutch Chair (Kleinjan) turned the discussion to consideration 
of a letter drafted by the current Dutch chair and the two 
forthcoming chairs of the JCG and intended to inform the CIO 
of JCG activities.  The Dutch chair had circulated the draft 
letter for review by Allies on October 3.   Kleinjan noted 
the particular difficulty in coming to consensus on the 
letter, noting that the JCG had not agreed on a draft in the 
last six years.  He informed the group that the drafters had 
decided to keep the letter as short and factual as possible, 
hoping to raise the probability of achieving consensus.  He 
also referred to paragraph 2 of the draft letter that 
reiterates exact language that Ulyanov used during his 
December 18, 2007 intervention in the JCG on suspension of 
the CFE Treaty.  Kleinjan suggested that while the JCG does 
not recognize the notion of suspension, the draft letter 
contained such a phrase since it had come directly from 
Ulyanov himself. 
 
¶6.  (C)  Several delegations thanked the Chair for its work 
 
 
on the draft letter.  Canada noted that under its 
chairmanship last year the JCG failed to reach consensus on 
the letter largely due to the UTLE (unaccounted for treaty 
limited equipment) issue between Armenia and Azerbaijan. 
Romania suggested that the letter is premature until a common 
position in the JCG on how to approach Russia with respect to 
CFE has been reached.  Romania reminded delegates of the 
upcoming October 16 HTLF and November retreat and noted that 
we should first see how these events turn out.  Additionally, 
Romania suggested that although the current draft is factual, 
it does not adequately reflect what the JCG has done in past 
years.  The Czech Republic noted its support for Romania's 
position. 
 
¶7.  (C)  The U.S. (Silberberg) thanked the Dutch Chair and 
echoed support for the comments made by Romania and the Czech 
Republic that it may be too early to table a decision on the 
letter.  Despite the earliness of the letter, the U.S. 
offered to make preliminary comments on the text of the 
letter if other delegations wanted to hear them.  The group 
expressed interest in hearing the U.S. comments now.  The 
U.S. noted that the letter was a good start -- short, and 
factual -- but that it may be more important to accurately 
reflect JCG activities rather than submit a short, albeit 
factual, statement simply because it may be easier to achieve 
consensus on a shorter statement.  In referring to the 
Adapted CFE Treaty, the U.S. asserted that the letter must 
mention the Istanbul Commitments and said it was open to 
other delegations on innovative language.  The U.S. lastly 
noted that not much progress had been made in the TOI. 
 
¶8.  (C)  The Dutch Chair noted that the longer the draft 
letter becomes, the less likely it will be to reach consensus 
on its content.  The Chair said it would not put forth the 
letter at the October 7 Plenary but would take the U.S. 
comments into consideration and circulate a revised version 
for consideration at the next JCG-T meeting. 
 
¶10. (C)  Under the topic of any other business, the Dutch 
chair reminded delegates that the last Plenary meeting 
(November 25) will take place right before the Helsinki 
Ministerial and is under Russian chairmanship.  He noted that 
delegations might want to consider creative ways (i.e., other 
events that coincide) to postpone, or skip, the last JCG 
Plenary.  He also noted that the Finnish chair of the OSCE 
had requested capitals, not Vienna, to handle discussions on 
the Ministerial Declaration. 
 
¶11.  (U)  The next JCG Plenary, to be chaired by Norway, will 
take place on Tuesday, October 14.  The next JCG-T on October 
13 will be chaired by Greece. 
FINLEY