VZCZCXRO8830
OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHTRO
DE RUCNDT #0554/01 1532209
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 022209Z JUN 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6664
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW IMMEDIATE 1354
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000554 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2019 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM UNSC UNOMIG RS GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: RUSSIAN MISSION REFUSES TO ENGAGE ON 
GEORGIA RESOLUTION 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT. At a meeting of French, 
German, U.K., U.S., Russian and Croatian PRs/DPRs on 
June 2, Russian Permrep Vitaly Churkin refused to 
engage on a German draft resolution to extend the 
United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG). 
Churkin said he had received emphatic instructions 
from Moscow that Russia was to seek another "technical 
extension of the UN mission for another 3-4 months" 
unless the West was willing to engage on a draft that 
"reflected the real state of affairs in the region." 
Churkin also threatened future Abkhaz participation in 
the UN's Joint Incident Resolution and Prevention 
Mechanism and questioned the viability of the Geneva 
talks.  Churkin was unwilling to elaborate on what an 
acceptable draft would look like, nor was he willing 
to discuss any concerns with elements of the German 
draft or commit to any future discussions of the 
German draft.  French, German, U.K., U.S. and Croatian 
Ambassadors all said they thought the German draft was 
reasonable, stressing that it reflected nearly 
verbatim the recommendations of the Secretary-General. 
USUN recommends that the Department engage with Moscow 
directly to insist that Russia engage in good faith on 
a draft resolution for Georgia.  END SUMMARY AND 
COMMENT. 
 
¶2. (C) Quad PRs/DPRs (France, Germany, U.K., U.S.) 
Croatia met with Russian PR Vitaly Churkin on June 2 
to review the German (Quad-blessed) draft of the 
UNOMIG resolution.  Churkin refused to engage on the 
text of the German draft.  Instead, he read directly 
from what he said were his instructions from Moscow, 
which said, "If partners insist on discussing this 
draft then we can only return to another technical 
extension of three to four months.  In such a case the 
Abkhaz are certain to refuse to participate in the 
Joint Incident Response and Prevention Mechanism 
(JIPRM), which would call into question the viability 
of the Geneva discussions."  Churkin went on reading, 
saying, "the West should understand, that if they are 
interested in continuing the UN presence, then all 
partners should seek a mutually acceptable solution 
that reflects the real state of affairs in the 
region."  Churkin added that the German draft ignored 
the new realities in the region that were created 
after the August 2008 conflict. 
 
¶3. (C) Continuing to read, Churkin said that the 
current German draft also did not reflect recent 
conversations of Georgia SRSG Johan Verbeke in Moscow, 
during which, Churkin said, Verbeke had described 
Russian suggestions for a security regime and mandate 
as reasonable.  Churkin refused to elaborate on those 
suggestions when prodded by other Ambassadors, but 
instead reiterated that the German draft was "far from 
the SYG's recommendations," both in its "substantive" 
and its "political" content.  He said he was "not 
permitted to discuss" the draft, but instead he was 
instructed to seek a technical rollover in the absence 
of a "suitable" draft resolution. He also repeated 
that the Abkhaz would refuse to participate in the 
Joint Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism, 
which would in turn call the viability of the Geneva 
talks into question. 
 
¶4. (C) Ambassador DiCarlo, supported by the French, 
U.K. and Croatian DPRs and German PR Mattusek, said 
she believed the German draft was a good basis for 
negotiating, and had been a good faith effort to 
reflect the SYG's recommendations.  She said it made 
no sense to produce a new draft absent any input from 
Russia. She suggested that experts should meet to 
discuss the draft in detail-- a suggestion that 
Churkin refused. DiCarlo said the U.S. had also 
provided input to Verbeke for the SYG's 
recommendations and, like Russia, was disappointed 
that not all of our suggestions had been included in 
the SYG's report. However, she said, the U.S. was 
willing to engage in a good faith effort to find an 
acceptable resolution. 
 
¶5. (C) COMMENT.  We have seen Russia use the tactic of 
non-engagement in past negotiations (Kosovo, for 
example), and we are therefore not convinced that 
Russia will refuse to engage on a draft.  We do 
believe, however, that Russia is testing how badly the 
West wants a UN mandate.  Churkin has clearly stated 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000554  002 OF 002 
 
 
that Russia is ready to adopt another technical 
rollover of UNOMIG.  As the SYG pointed out in his May 
19 report, a technical rollover would lead to further 
erosion of the security situation on the ground, but 
at the same time it would allow Russia to avoid being 
seen as blocking a reasonable security regime and UN 
mandate.  We do not believe it would be wise to 
second-guess ourselves by presenting an alternative 
draft resolution to Russia.  Instead, USUN believes 
the Department should engage directly with Moscow to 
insist that Russia engage in a good faith effort to 
find a way forward on Abkhazia.  We may want to remind 
Moscow that we will hold Russia responsible if the UN 
mission expires and if security on the ground 
continues to erode.  If Russia does refuse to engage 
before the current mandate expires on June 15, we will 
need to determine whether another technical rollover 
is acceptable to us, or whether alternatively, we 
should seek a revised mandate or no mandate at all. 
END COMMENT. 
 
RICE