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O 041616Z FEB 09
FM USMISSION USOSCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6178
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USOSCE 000016 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR VCI/CCA, EUR/RPM 
NSC FOR HAYES 
JCS FOR J5/COL NORWOOD 
OSD FOR ISA (PERENYI) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCFE OSCE PARM PREL RS AJ AM
SUBJECT: CFE/JCG:  FEBRUARY 3 PLENARY - AZERI/ARMENIA 
REDUX, TWO PLENARIES CANCELLED IN MARCH 
 
REF: A. USOSCE 0015 
     ¶B. BAKU 73 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified, please protect accordingly.  Not 
for internet. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  The February 3 Joint Consultative Group 
heard another exchange of accusations between Azerbaijan and 
Armenia regarding excess holdings of Treaty-limited 
equipment.  The JCG POET working group met briefly with 
little result.  At the JCG-T, the Dutch provided a readout of 
the January 29 HLTF meeting.  Russia responded to our 
accounting question about the Leningrad military district. 
The JCG agreed to cancel plenary meetings on March 3 and 17 
given other FSC events scheduled those two weeks.  End 
Summary. 
 
Azeri and Armenian exchange continues 
--------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Azerbaijan and Armenia each both made two more 
lengthy statements per the debate initiated three weeks ago, 
with the political rhetoric increasing (Ref A).  See 
JCG.JOUR/686 for both sets of statements.  Below are some 
further CFE-specifics not previously raised.  Azerbaijan 
(Jafarova) began by claiming again that Armenia has always 
been in breach of the CFE Treaty.  Armenia is an aggressor 
and occupier.  She said it is ridiculous for Armenia to 
complain about 9 units in Azerbaijan when it is hiding 40 
units in N-K.  The Armenian TLE hidden in N-K is in the 
Treaty's zone of application, presenting a technical issue 
not merely a political one. 
 
¶3. (SBU) She recalled that the current case on the transfer 
of weapons from Russia to Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh 
is similar a case from 1996 that was ultimately acknowledged 
at high-levels to have taken place.  For future reference, 
Azerbaijan reminded that it has made statements regarding 
this issue in JCG meetings before, including those recorded 
in Journals 599, 618, 646, and 665.  Specifically, questions 
raised in the June 10, 2008 (JCG Journal 665) have never been 
answered ) there is no single document since 1992 where 
Armenia has provided information about combat units on the 
conflict line nor are there any inspection reports. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) She also disputed Armenia's claim made last week 
that the Azeri's have only reported 5 ACVs and 7 artillery 
pieces removed from service, noting that altogether 250 
pieces of equipment have been decommissioned in the last 5 
years.  The pieces were decommissioned so that it would 
confirm to its Treaty limits.  She later cited five Azeri CFE 
notifications that provided info on the decommissioned 
equipment:  AZ/03/009/F00/O; AZ/04/001/F00/O; 
AZ/05/007/F00/O; AZ/07/004/F00/O; AZ/07/005/F00/O. 
 
¶5. (SBU) She also cited several recent Armenian government 
press releases, one from January 28 regarding the celebration 
day of Armenian Armed Forces, at which the Armenian Minister 
of Defense was quoted as calling it a glorious day for the 
Armenian Army serving on the borders and "Arta" ) which she 
said is Armenian language for N-K.  Also, if Armenia claims 
that N-K has its own forces, how do they explain the use of 
Armenia declared CFE TLE (SU25 and MI 24 helicopters) from 
the 124th Gumry and 15th Air Base in Yerevan.  Another 
article from an N-K paper reported on a large scale exercise 
in April 2008 using equipment that it does not possess (again 
helicopters).  Comment:  On the margins, USDel sought 
clarification from the Azeri delegation on its previous 
claims concerning Armenian TLE numbers.  The Azeri military 
advisor provided a lengthy document summarizing their 
sources.  Document is available by unclass email upon 
request.  End Comment. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Armenia (Papikayan) replied twice without addressing 
the specific questions mentioned, mainly drawing on previous 
 
USOSCE 00000016  002 OF 002 
 
 
political references.  He stressed the right of self defense 
for the people of N-K, and claimed Azerbaijan did not dispute 
this when the ceasefire was signed in 1994.  Comment:  Russia 
and all other delegations remained silent on this subject 
once more.  End Comment. 
 
POET Working Group 
-------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) After the plenary, the Canadian Chair (Linteau) of 
the Protocol on Equipment Types (POET) held a short small 
group (U.S., UK, France, Germany, and Russia) meeting to 
review possible areas for future work (as requested by 
Germany).  He suggested advancing some of the old JCG.TOI 
equipment list documents, but Russian reps said they are now 
outdated.  The Chair asked Germany if it would prepare an 
update to the Consolidated Matrix to include any new 
equipment entered into service in 2008.  Germany said it 
would try to provide such an update by the end of March.  The 
Chair said at some point he will need to report to the JCG on 
what the working group has discussed since last June, albeit 
if it is a "nil" report.  Comment:  Delegation personnel 
turnover has contributed to a lack of understanding on the 
history of the working group as well as the status quo of 
current documents.  The Chair does not expect any activity 
pending further policy developments on the CFE suspension 
issue.  End comment. 
 
JCG-T 
------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The JCG-T met prior to the plenary meeting to hear a 
readout of the January 29 HLTF meeting.  Dutch rep Kleinjan, 
as is current custom, provided a concise and accurate review 
of the main points, highlighting the upcoming calendar of 
security-related meetings that may have a bearing on future 
work in Vienna, including:  Feb 6-8 Werkunde, Munich; Feb 18 
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister visit to the OSCE; 3-4 April 
NATO Anniversary; June 10 German-hosted Foreign Minister 
Steinmeier meeting; and ASRC 23-24 June in Vienna.  Allies 
will meet next week and will discuss pending preparations for 
the February 18 joint FSC/PC meeting. 
 
Russia Data Answer 
--------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) On the margins of the JCG, Russian delegation rep 
(Zabello) answered a question about the numbers reported in 
the Leningrad Military District posed during the last 
December meeting on the one-page summary of Russian CFE data 
received for 2009.  The Pskov Division is not reflected in 
the summary total for the Leningrad Military District since 
the Pskov Oblast has not been part of this district since 
1996, in accordance with the flank agreement.  No other 
oblasts were excluded.  As CFE reports on brigades and 
smaller units while Vienna Document reports on brigades and 
larger units the resulting numbers are different. 
 
Two JCG Plenaries in March Cancelled 
--------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) France, as current Chair of the Forum for Security 
Cooperation (FSC), requested that the JCG cancel its meetings 
on March 3 and March 17 in light of special FSC meetings 
being held on those days.  The Czech JCG Chairman had 
introduced this possibility at the previous meeting, and the 
JCG readily agreed to cancel these two meetings. 
SCOTT