US embassy cable - 04BRUSSELS1622

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 001622 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/14/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PBTS, MD, OSCE, USEU BRUSSELS 
SUBJECT: EU WELCOMES MOLDOVA CONSULTATIONS 
 
REF: STATE 82674 
 
Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Kyle Scott.  Reason: 1.5 (B 
)(D) 
 
1. (C) Mission raised reftel proposal for five-party expert 
(Ambassadorial) level talks on Moldova April 14 with 
Christoph Heusgen, head of the Policy Unit.  His experts on 
Moldova were not available, but Heusgen promised to get back 
to us soon with a more formal reply.  He said he was 
confident the EU would support the proposed meeting in early 
May.  Heusgen suggested it would be important to include a 
representative from the Kremlin in the talks, since he was 
not sure the Russian MFA's officials could speak 
authoritatively.  Heusgen also questioned if the Russians 
were sincere about seeking progress, suggesting they might 
only hope to gain tactical advantage prior to CFE meetings on 
Istanbul commitments.  At Heusgen's request, we also shared 
US proposal with Irish Presidency. 
 
2. (C) On April 15 we followed up with Carl Hartzell, who 
told us the EU welcomed the proposal, and would participate 
in an early May meeting (EU sensibilities would likely 
require participation of two officials: the Irish Presidency 
and a Council expert).  Hartzell had the impression that 
Novozhilov hoped expert-level meetings could be used to drag 
things out or perhaps lead to some sort of blessing of 
Russian "peace-keeping" activities.  He suggested it might be 
useful to hold some sort of US-EU consultations on the way 
forward even prior to five-party talks in early May. 
 
Schnabel