VZCZCXYZ0015
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMO #1336 1421350
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221350Z MAY 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3432
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 5316
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0490

UNCLAS MOSCOW 001336 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR IO/EDA BALLARD AND EEB/IFD/ODF MONAHAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON EFIN UNGA
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN RESPONSE TO DEMARCHE ON UN CONFERENCE ON 
DEVELOPMENT IMPACT OF CRISIS 
 
REF: STATE 50892 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Econoff delivered reftel demarche on May 
21 to Alexander Pankin, Deputy Director, Multilateral 
Organizations Department, Russian Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs. Pankin noted that a number of countries, including 
Russia, had difficulties with the text presented by General 
Assembly President Escobar.  He indicated that, while Russia 
wanted to have a successful outcome for the conference, they 
shared many of our concerns and look forward to working with 
us in New York in an effort to find an outcome that is 
acceptable to all.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Econoff met with Alexander Pankin, currently Deputy 
Director of the Multilateral Organizations Department of the 
Russian Foreign Ministry.  Pankin indicated that Russia 
shared many of our concerns regarding the Escobar text, 
including the length of the document, the references to 
creating new institutions with unclear or overlapping 
mandates, and the divisive nature of a number of the 
proposals. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Pankin noted that some of the issues were on their 
way to being resolved with the introduction of a third 
negotiating text, which he described as a merger between the 
facilitators' text and that of the President of the General 
Assembly.  According to Pankin, the new text will still 
require considerable negotiation, but provides a more realist 
basis for discussion.  In his view, the negotiations would go 
on during much of the period prior to the conference itself, 
but he noted that the GOR did not want talks to spill over 
into the conference itself and involve ministers.  While 
Pankin was realistic about the possibility that side 
negotiations might continue at the working level during the 
conference, he stressed the point that Russia does not want 
the ministerial conversations to be hijacked by negotiations 
on problematic proposals, many of which have been around in 
one form or another for years.  The Russians would view such 
an outcome as a failure of the process. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) According to Pankin, Russian delegates from the 
Mission in New York will conduct the negotiations, based on 
guidance from the Foreign Ministry.  One of the mid-level 
diplomats from Moscow may fly out to New York next week to 
assist, should the talks bog down, but generally the Russians 
plan to negotiate with the team they already have in place. 
While Russia's delegation to the conference will be headed by 
Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, the Russian position 
in this type of UN negotiations is determined by the Foreign 
Ministry, with only general guidance from other Ministries. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Comment.  Pankin is an experienced UN negotiator, 
having worked at the Russian Missions in New York and Geneva 
prior to his current posting.  As a veteran of such 
discussions, he has a pragmatic view of the possible outcome. 
 He expects the negotiations to be contentious and long, but 
to come to an acceptable, if messy, conclusion in the end. 
He also expects that, while Russia and the U.S. will differ 
on some points, we will have more in common than not and will 
likely work together in New York to tame down some of the 
more radical ideas presented in the Escobar paper.  End 
Comment. 
BEYRLE