Cablegate: Russian Ambassador On Nato, European Security, And

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USNATO 000060

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL NATO GG RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR ON NATO, EUROPEAN SECURITY, AND
GEORGIA

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1. Summary: Russian Ambassador to NATO Dmitri Rogozin
presented his views on NATO's Strategic Concept, the European
Security Treaty, and the status of Georgia's borders during a
January 29 discussion hosted by the EastWest Institute.
Rogozin pondered NATO's past and future, arguing that
enlargement had saddled the Alliance with unstable countries
and asking how NATO proposed to reconcile its Article 5
commitments with the new challenges taken up in the Strategic
Concept. He explained that the proposed European Security
Treaty showed that Moscow intended to assume its traditional
role as a European power, and described a new European
security architecture that resembled a Russian matryoshka
doll with different layers of alliances and security
guarantees Rogozin said it would be "dangerous" for NATO to
accept Georgia as a member and thought that settling
unresolved issues in the region should be left to the next
generation. End Summary.

NATO Strategic Concept
----------------------

2. Russian Ambassador to NATO Dmitri Rogozin covered a range
of topics during a January 29 discussion on NATO-Russia
organized by the EastWest Institute. Ranging from serious to
sarcastic, Rogozin spoke about the NATO Strategic Concept,
European Security Treaty (EST), and Georgia before an
audience consisting of diplomats and academics in Brussels
and, via video link, New York. Rogozin said that he looked
forward to a new NATO Strategic Concept that would foster
pan-European security and not "antagonize" relations with
partners. He asked how NATO would reconcile its Article 5
commitments with the new challenges that the Alliance wanted
to tackle, such as energy and cyber security.

3. Rogozin questioned the logic of NATO enlargement, stating
that if the Alliance enlarged its space it needed to enlarge
its ability to defend that space. He argued that enlargement
had not been carried out in an organized manner but as a
spontaneous reaction to fill a void in Europe caused by the
end of the Cold War. As a result, NATO had gained countries
with internal instability and external conflicts that had
destabilized the Alliance. Czech PermRep to the UN Martin
Palous responded that the process of NATO and EU enlargement
had successfully democratized former communist states.
Rogozin shot back that the democratic process developed in
other countries as well, adding that he had not been a member
of the Communist Party as had some of the other Ambassadors
he sat with on the NATO-Russia Council.

European Security
-----------------

4. Rogozin explained that Medvedev's EST proposal was an
attempt by Russia to assume its historic role and traditional
influence in Europe. He thought it "strange" that reaction
to the EST has been what he described as either silence or
suspicion that the proposal was a Russian plot, and argued it
should properly be seen as a means to better integrate Russia
into Europe. He complained that Russia's partners had failed
to understand that they had been invited to a discussion on
how to make Europe more stable.

5. Rogozin stated that Europe needed a new, more sustainable
security system that he compared to a Russian matryoshka
doll. On the exterior was a common security perimeter
stretching from Vancouver to Vladivostok. Within were
alliances and organizations such as NATO, the CSTO and EU,
each of which had their own "competencies and tasks."
Rogozin described NATO as an alliance that was reaching
"pensioner age" and the CSTO as a youngster still finding its
way. At the core were individual states that had security
guarantees either as part of an alliance or individually.
Rogozin hoped that the NATO-Russia Council would help Europe
move toward this goal.

6. Rogozin proposed demilitarizing the borders of NATO and
Russia by "bringing life" back to arms control, including
ratifying the adapted CFE Treaty. Accomplishing this task
would require addressing flank limitations that "cut Russia
in two." Russia was also interested in confidence building
measures that would help avoid potentially dangerous

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developments on its border with NATO.

Georgia
-------

7. Rogozin said that Georgia's territorial problems made it
"dangerous" for NATO to accept the country as a member. He
called Georgia's internationally recognized border into
question, referring to it as a "Stalinist border" that had
forced the Abkhaz and South Ossetians into the Georgian SSR.
He thought that with the Soviet collapse it was only fair
that these nationalities had a chance to regain their
independence. Rogozin doubted that it would be possible to
"settle the Caucasus" anytime soon and thought the issue
should be left to the "next generation." This prompted
Pierre Morel, the EU Special Representative for Central Asia,
to respond that he was "stunned" by Rogozin's fatalism and
failure to see a way forward on Georgia.
DAALDER

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