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S E C R E T PARIS 000708 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/27/2019 
TAGS: PREL MOPS MARR NATO FR AF PA SE
SUBJECT: READOUT OF U/S BURNS AND USDP FLOURNOY'S 
POLITICAL-MILITARY DISCUSSIONS IN PARIS 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, Mark A. Pekala for reasons 1.4(b) and 
 (d). 
 
¶1.  (C/NF) Summary.  During a series of political-military 
discussions in Paris on May 14 between U/S Burns and USDP 
Flournoy with their French counterparts Gerard Araud and 
Michel Miraillet, the French pledged support for our 
non-proliferation efforts with North Korea and Russia and 
urged close cooperation in the next 12 months as we prepare 
for the 2010 review conference for the NPT treaty.  French 
officials expressed interest in the ongoing reviews of 
missile defense, noting their support for USG bilateral 
efforts to establish a third MD site in Europe but cautioning 
that the potential costs of a NATO MD program could be 
prohibitive and that current European defense budgets could 
not support it.  Paris is gearing up for the OSCE informal 
ministerial in Corfu in June and has circulated a draft paper 
with the Germans, UK and U.S. to reach agreement on some 
basic principles for discussion.  France further supports 
reform of NATO institutions to facilitate committee work and 
streamline the Alliance's organizational structure.  French 
and U.S. officials agreed on concerns over the security 
situation in the Pakistan Swat Valley and increasing refugee 
crisis.  On the Balkans, France considers that the Office of 
the High Representative (OHR) should be phased out after the 
upcoming October meeting of the Peace Implementation Council 
(PIC), and replaced by an EU Special Representative.  The GOF 
and USG representatives also discussed additional approaches 
to combat piracy in the Gulf of Aden and how to increase 
bilateral cooperation in space and on cyber deterrence.  End 
Summary. 
 
------------------------------------ 
NON-PROLIFERATION AND DISARMAMENT 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (S/NF) Both Araud and Miraillet expressed strong support 
for U.S. efforts to dissuade North Korea's nuclear program, 
acknowledging that France is not on the "front-lines" of this 
issue.  Burns and Flournoy expressed appreciation for 
France's support on the UN Security Council, hoping that they 
would be able to tighten some procedures and proceed with new 
designations through that organization.  At the same time, 
Flournoy said that the U.S. was reviewing new initiatives to 
strengthen our solidarity and alliances with other countries 
in the region to demonstrate that any DPRK provocation merely 
serves to isolate Pyongyang and strengthen our common front. 
She also suggested strengthening implementation of PSI, to 
which the French agreed.  Miraillet raised concerns of 
Egyptian missile cooperation with DPRK and asked whether we 
had any evidence of possible DPRK cooperation with Myanmar. 
All agreed that we "must be tough" in PSI, within the UN and 
with Russia on the Montchegorsk case. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
BILATERAL AND MULTILATERAL COOPERATION 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C/NF) Paris is very focused on the NPT prepcom meetings 
in New York to prepare for the 2010 review conference.  Araud 
stated that, as President Sarkozy announced in a speech last 
March, France is ready to make concrete steps as part of 
disarmament efforts.  However, he cautioned that countries 
without nuclear weapons and NGOs will continue to pocket any 
concessions made and then put forth further demands as only a 
Zero policy will satisfy them.  He asked for close 
cooperation with the U.S. in establishing "redlines" for the 
nuclear countries and ensuring a balanced agenda that 
includes proliferation threats from Iran and North Korea as 
well as verification challenges.  MFA Strategic Affairs 
Director Jacques Audibert added that based on the current 
discussions, France sees problems with the text of the 
document as well as pressure being applied to do more.  He 
stated that, based on recent steps taken to dismantle test 
and fissile materials sites, France has the best record of 
nuclear states in disarmament efforts.  In addition, France 
is concerned that some proposals for verification could cost 
billions of dollars and it also wants to ensure that 
countries are able to exercise their right to peaceful use of 
power. 
 
¶4.  (C/NF) USDP Flournoy clarified that there are three main 
principles behind the USG nuclear and disarmament policy 
articulated by President Obama in Prague: (1) strengthening 
the non-proliferation regime, including ratification of the 
CTBT treaty; (2) reducing our own nuclear arsenal (primarily 
through new START negotiations with Russia); and (3) 
maintaining a nuclear deterrence that is robust, safe and 
reliable.  These three pillars are all crucial elements to 
our policy and move in parallel with each other.  Both Burns 
and Flournoy expressed desire for successful START 
negotiations with Russia, but cautioned that a follow-on 
treaty would only encompass modest reductions with deeper 
reductions deferred until a later stage.  ASD Vershbow added 
that France should consider rejoining NATO's Nuclear Planning 
Group (NPG) which would give it another forum to influence 
wavering allies.  Araud responded that he was unclear where 
France currently stands on rejoining NPG. 
 
--------------------------------- 
MISSILE DEFENSE 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (S/NF) GOF officials were very interested in current U.S. 
plans for missile defense in Europe.  USDP Flournoy noted 
that Secretary Gates 2010 defense budget showed a shift in 
investment from national to regional and theater missile 
defense programs.  At the same time, we are engaging in a 
congressionally-mandated missile defense review.  While the 
USG remains interested in missile defense for Europe, we are 
also taking Russian concerns seriously and trying to re-set 
our broader relationship with Moscow, so we are looking at 
different options.  To give the new administration maximum 
flexibility, however, the 2010 budget has allocated funding 
for a third missile defense site in Europe.  We'd also like 
to increase missile defense cooperation with NATO and believe 
the ALTBMD represents a good beginning.  The U.S. is also 
interested in exploring bilateral missile defense 
opportunities with France, to take advantage of their strong 
industrical and technological base.  We'd like to continue 
exploring use of French facilities associated with the 
Atlantic test range.  Flournoy added that we remain 
interested in finding protection for the southern flank of 
Europe and U/S Burns noted that the pace of the Iran missile 
program was surprising to many, including the Russians. 
 
¶6.  (S/NF) Araud stated that he had engaged on numerous 
occasions with the Russians in order to better understand 
their missile defense concerns.  Aside from not wanting to 
see the American flag based in its former satellite 
countries, all of Araud's Russian interlocutors had clarified 
that U.S. missile defense plans were "only the first step" in 
a global system.  They also said the radar in the Czech 
Republic looks deeply into Russia and can observe Russian 
missile testing.  As for NATO missile defense, Araud noted 
that, while Paris had never opposed the U.S. missile defense 
plans, there were concerns about the potential costs of the 
program.  He added that he was surprised at the number of 
NATO allies willing to approve a program when there was 
clearly "not one euro" to pay for it with current defense 
budgets.  France would require clear funding in order to 
approve a NATO plan.  Since France is still implementing its 
2008 "white paper," its own defense funding has "dire 
constraints."  So, while Paris supports current discussions 
and developments at NATO, the key question remains money. 
 
------------------------------------ 
EUROPEAN SECURITY ARCHITECTURE 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (S/NF) French officials are very focused on the informal 
OSCE Ministerial scheduled for Corfu in June to discuss 
European security.  Araud stated that the Europeans are very 
divided on this subject and that the recent meeting of EU 
Political Directors had been very tense, with strong opposing 
positions.  The U.S. position will be critical to unify EU 
countries.  The GOF has circulated a paper within the Quad 
laying out some of the major redlines for discussion, 
including: the importance of the transatlantic link, keeping 
current security architecture, including a broad vision of 
security, focusing renewed emphasis on the Helsinki 
principles, addressing new ways to cope with crisis 
 
prevention and crisis management and discussion of what to do 
about CFE (whether to keep the current version or to consider 
other alternatives).  They are waiting for the USG reaction 
to plan next steps.  U/S Burns agreed that it is important to 
take the initiative on this discussion of European security 
and that the French paper is a good starting point. 
 
¶8.  (S/NF) Araud was very pessimistic about the CFE treaty, 
saying that he sees no way to save CFE now, even if no one 
wants to say so publicly.  Currently, the Russians have the 
best of both worlds since the occidental countries are still 
implementing its provisions, but Russia is not.  Further, the 
allies will not accept an asymmetrical flank regime where 
they submit to limits while Russia has none.  Araud suggested 
that we get into "brainstorming mode" on what Europe really 
needs for its security and then try to discuss it more 
broadly after the September German federal elections.  The 
U.S. delegation noted that it was in our own interest to make 
the system function and that we will want to keep the CFE 
structure, even if we move forward with discussions on 
alternatives.  Doing so may give us leverage with the 
Russians on other issues, but USDP Flournoy warned that she 
did not want to give Russia "a new piece of paper which would 
relieve them of their obligations under existing treaties" 
and that alternatives shouldn't focus solely on "red lines" 
but also on lines of opportunity. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
NATO STRATEGIC CONCEPT 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (C/NF) USDP Flournoy stated that most NATO allies view 
the launch of the new Strategic Concept as long overdue.  The 
last one has not kept pace with changes in the new security 
environment.  The U.S. wants a "wise persons" group to 
consult very widely to compile the views of Allies, which 
will be used by SecGen to draft the concept, rather than try 
to draft it by committee.  We are focused on maintaining the 
credibility of Article 5, dealing with new security threats, 
the future of NATO's open door, NATO's relationship with 
other organizations such as the EU, NATO internal reform and 
the Alliance's commitment to capabilities development.  Araud 
cautioned that defining Article 5 more precisely as some 
countries would like, would weaken it.  The current structure 
of the NATO treaty, with only 10 Articles, gives NATO the 
flexibility to redefine itself easily.  France wants to see 
an emphasis on NATO intervention as a comprehensive approach 
and to address the criteria for NATO enlargement, since there 
are now several different processes to join the Alliance. 
France also counts itself among the "reform wing" of NATO, 
and Araud criticized the military structure of NATO which 
appears designed to "give jobs to Lithuanian colonels" over 
other operational priorities.  He questioned the necessity of 
consensus within NATO's working committees and advocated 
reforms to allow various proposals to come out of committee 
rather than having one country block all action.  Consensus 
within the NAC would still be "sacred." 
 
¶10.  (C/NF) USDP Flournoy asked if French officials had any 
suggestions on how to overcome the NATO-EU logjam.  Araud 
expressed great frustration with Turkey because it is not 
willing to work informally to overcome obstacles.  He said 
that France had made efforts during its EU presidencies in 
both 2000 and 2008 to improve cooperation with Turkey, but 
with out much success.  The Europeans cannot bring Turkey 
into the European Defense Agency because of the Cypriot veto, 
but they have just admitted Turkey as an observer in the 
European Gendarmerie Force.  However, he concluded that none 
of these efforts had been of much help.  ASD Vershbow 
suggested that perhaps now is the time to make a concerted 
effort for a Cyprus settlement, and he encouraged the EU to 
design some incentives for Greece and Cyprus to achieve it. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶11.   (C/NF) U/S Burns led the discussion on 
Afghanistan/Pakistan by acknowledging the depth of the 
challenge presented in the region, and the need to improve 
communication and coordination between Pakistani and Afghan 
 
officials.  The deteriorating security situation in the Swat 
Valley remains a particular concern.  U/S Burns said USG 
efforts sought to build political cover for the political 
leadership in Pakistan, commenting on the added challenge 
caused by the raw feelings between President Zardari and 
Nawaz Sharif.  USDP Flournoy added that the USG was under no 
illusion that there was a quick fix at hand, but underscored 
the urgency of the security situation.  She discussed her 
concerns that Pakistani efforts in Swat are exacerbating the 
IDP situation.  It was not clear whether the Pakistanis would 
be effective in "holding" and "building" and "clearing" 
Taliban forces from Swat. 
 
¶12.  (C/NF) Araud said that a Pakistani delegation would be 
in Paris tomorrow to discuss counter insurgency (COIN) and 
Special Forces training.  The French government plans to 
offer COIN cooperation, and promised to coordinate French 
efforts with the U.S. and UK to ensure consistency of the 
overall effort.  On the issue of Pakistani security 
assistance, the French voiced some frustration that the 
Pakistanis ask for equipment, but are reluctant to accept any 
condition-based assistance.  U/S Burns and USDP Flournoy both 
described the challenges for Pakistan to break from their 
ingrained views of the strategic threat coming from India 
versus the Afghan border region, and the enormous importance 
of Pakistan making that leap.  GOF officials said that other 
donors to Pakistan from the Gulf States view the challenges 
differently, but all agreed that their participation is 
important to crafting and financing a viable solution.  In 
response to a question from the French MOD, U/S Burns said 
that the USG hoped for the resumption of back-channel 
communications between Pakistan and India, but that the 
United States had to move cautiously and not be seen as too 
intrusive. 
¶13.   (C/NF)  On Afghanistan, the French described their 
efforts to concentrate military and civilian cooperation in 
the two regions where French soldiers are operating.  By 
increasing their aid to 40 million Euros this year, they hope 
to see real progress over the next year in agriculture and 
rural development.  Araud also discussed efforts to deploy a 
European Gendarmerie Force mission to Afghanistan to provide 
mentoring and training to the Afghan police.  He described 
coordination challenges owing to the domestic political 
feuding between the Italian Defense and Foreign Ministers, 
but said that the pan-European response (now involving 
French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch gendarmes) was worth the 
effort.  Italy continues to contend that the EGF mission, 
which will be comprised of 400 gendarmerie, not be approved 
until the formal standing up of NTM-A at the June Defense 
Ministerial. 
-------------------------------------- 
THE BALKANS 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶14.  (C/NF)  Araud expressed the French view that the Office 
of the High Representative (OHR) should be phased out after 
the upcoming October meeting of the Peace Implementation 
Council (PIC), even if the 5-plus-2 conditions were not 
completely fulfilled with the OHR, and replaced by a EU 
Special Representatives, adding that "the military mission on 
the ground is over."  Believing that the OHR is now part of 
the problem, Araud said that the EU would be discussing its 
position on the EU Special Representative in the coming 
weeks, and that it wants to find a way to maintain U.S., 
Russian and Turkish engagement.  On the status of EUFOR, 
Araud described the ongoing challenges to Italian and Spanish 
forces in Bosnia whose military forces continue to be 
deployed, often at the badgering of EU countries that have 
removed their own forces from the region.  EUR Acting A/S 
Marcie Ries said that the United States was not convinced 
that satisfactory progress had been made on the 5-plus-2 
commitments to warrant closure of the OHR, and said that we 
remain concerned about the corrosive influence of resurgent 
nationalism in the region.  Both sides agreed to continue our 
dialogue after VP Biden,s trip to the region next week. 
Araud said that the French did not want a "Dayton II," and 
commented that the Bosnian constitution was "artificial and 
fragile, but the Bosnians are used to it."  Nonetheless, he 
said that he believes the current impasse between RS leader 
Dodik and Bosniak leadership was unworkable. 
¶15.  (C/NF)  Araud said that Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece, 
 
represent the three necessary poles for stability in the 
Caucuses.  Araud hoped that the EU would improve its 
relations with Belgrade, since the Serbs had voted by a large 
margin in each of their last two elections for pro-European 
parties.  Araud was quick to point out that the Serbs are 
guilty of double talk, and was especially critical of FM 
Jeremic,s efforts to play both sides.  He added that Tadic 
understands that Jeremic is a problem but cannot dismiss him 
for domestic political reasons.  Araud briefly described the 
GOF,s views on Macedonia, which he described as a "dead 
end."  On the border dispute between Croatia  and Slovenia, 
Araud said that Slovenia was prepared to block a potential 
compromise solution at hand with the EU and requested 
Washington's help with pushing Ljubljana towards compromise. 
The EU Commission would soon provide a new, slightly-amended 
version, but that was "the end of the road."  Summing up the 
frustration an MFA colleague had with the Slovenian,s 
stubbornness, Araud said Czech FM Schwartzenberg had 
commented "never underestimate the charms of petty 
nationalism." 
 
---------------------------------------- 
COUNTER-PIRACY 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶16.  (C/NF) Both U.S. and French officials agreed that the 
situation in the Gulf of Aden is complicated and requires a 
comprehensive approach.  Araud informed the U.S. officials 
that France had decided to train a battalion of Somali 
soldiers in Djibouti, to help improve security.  U/S Burns 
shared that the G-8 Political Directors had discussed other 
ideas, including increasing judicial capacity, training of 
Somali forces and possible steps that commercial ships can 
take to better avoid the pirates.  USDP Flournoy added that 
the paying of ransoms has created a commercial market that 
the international community should try to change with 
incentives.  Further, given the resources needed to protect 
commercial shipping, it may be more economical for ships to 
learn to take some simple, active defensive measures such as 
blocking exits, learning evasive maneuvers and increasing 
speed.  We must still address what to do with the pirates we 
have apprehended, as countries have varying laws on capture 
and jurisdiction. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
BILATERAL COOPERATION 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶17.  (C/NF) GOF and U.S. officials also discussed a variety 
of additional areas for bilateral cooperation, including 
nuclear, space and cyber issues.  Araud stressed the 
importance of cyber deterrence for the French, noting that 
cyber attacks that took place during the visit of the Dalai 
Lama to France and the fact that French computers were used 
unwittingly in cyber attacks on Georgia during the 
Georgia-Russia crisis last summer.  The GOF would like to 
share legal, doctrinal and policy experiences in this area. 
At the end of the meetings, the U.S. and Frances signed a 
Memorandum of Understanding on Space Cooperation between the 
U.S. Department of Defense and the French Ministry of Defense. 
 
¶18.  (U) THis cable was cleared by U/S Burns and USDP 
Flournoy. 
 
PEKALA