US embassy cable - 04YEREVAN2461

UNCLAS YEREVAN 002461 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/RPM AND EUR/CACEN 
LONDON PLEASE PASS TO DAS KENNEDY 
USNATO FOR TOM UNDERWOOD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM, PREL, AM, NATO 
SUBJECT: NATO SECRETARY GENERAL VISITS YEREVAN 
 
 
Information is sensitive but unclassified.  Please treat 
accordingly. 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  During a brief visit to Yerevan on 
November 5, the NATO Secretary General encouraged Armenia to 
continue to develop its cooperation with the Alliance, 
introduced NATO's new special representative to the region 
and explained that NATO is not in competition with any other 
organization and does not seek to diminish the Russian 
Federation's role in the region.  In his meeting with 
President Kocharian, the SYG got a discouraging brief on the 
current state of negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh.  End 
Summary. 
 
2.  (SBU) On November 5, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop 
Scheffer visited Armenia for six hours.  The SYG met with 
with President Kocharian, Foreign Minister Oskanian and 
Defense Minister Sargsian and addressed a group of students 
at Yerevan State University.  Press coverage of the SYG's 
visit was factual and generally positive. 
 
NATO "Not in Competition with Russia" 
------------------------------------- 
 
3.  (SBU) In a briefing to NATO Ambassadors accredited in 
Armenia, the SYG said that in all of his meetings and in his 
public remarks, he urged closer cooperation with NATO while 
at the same time underscored that NATO is not in competition 
with any other organization or country for influence in the 
South Caucasus.  The SYG introduced Robert Simmons as his new 
Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central 
Asia. 
 
Armenia's IPAP Won't Be Ready for EAPC Ministerial 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
4.  (SBU) The SYG said that President Kocharian declared his 
commitment to complete its draft of Armenia's Individual 
Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) quickly.  Kocharian asked for 
NATO's guidance in defining priorities for the plan, but the 
SYG demurred; it was up to Armenia to define its goals for 
its relationship with the Alliance, not the other way around. 
 While the GOAM said it was taking the IPAP process 
seriously, the SYG said it did not seem to understand the 
complexity of the task.  The SYG urged Armenia to consult 
with NATO International Staff experts through the Planning 
and Review Process.  Special Rep Simmons said that while 
Armenia hoped to present its IPAP in time for the December 9 
Euro-Atlantic Partnership Commission (EAPC) ministerial, this 
goal was unrealistic.  Azerbaijan is further along, Simmons 
added, and would likely complete this process in time for the 
December Ministerial. 
 
Outlook "Gloomy" on N-K 
----------------------- 
 
5.  (SBU) The SYG said that Kocharian briefed him on the 
current state of play in negotiations on N-K and gave a 
"gloomy analysis" of prospects for the near term.  Kocharian 
claimed that in light of Azerbaijan's actions at the UNGA, he 
could no longer represent N-K.  Kocharian characterized his 
September meeting in Astana with President Aliyev as 
productive, but regretted that follow-on now seemed unlikely. 
 The SYG told NATO Ambassadors that President Aliyev had 
described the Astana meeting as having "not much content and 
no follow-up" in a meeting earlier in the day in Baku. 
EVANS