US embassy cable - 04HELSINKI1604

C O N F I D E N T I A L HELSINKI 001604 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/NB AND EUR/RUS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/29/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, RS, EN, LG, Finland-Russia 
SUBJECT: FINNISH AND RUSSIAN PRESIDENTS DISCUSS ESTONIA, 
LATVIA 
 
REF: TALLINN 1121 
 
Classified By: POL Chief John Hall for reasons 1.4(B) and (D) 
 
1. (C) On December 22 Jarmo Viinanen, advisor to Finnish 
President Halonen, gave us a read-out on the December 14 
meeting between Halonen and Russian President Putin. 
Viinanen confirmed that, as reported to Embassy Tallinn 
(reftel), Halonen had asked when Putin would sign border 
treaties with Estonia and Latvia.  Putin's response, 
according to Viinanen, was, "When (their leaders) come here 
on May 9."  Putin added that this is his policy line -- there 
are others who do not feel this way. 
 
2. (C) We asked whether the Finns interpreted Putin's 
response as flippant.  No, said Viinanen, "It's a promise in 
a way," and Putin may well have intended to send a message 
through Halonen: if Estonia and Latvia are willing to take 
the difficult political step of joining in the May 9 
ceremonies, Putin would be willing to respond in kind by 
signing the treaties.  The Finns believe that Putin's 
reference to this being his own policy line means that he 
will have to overrule those in the GoR who favor a more 
hard-line position.  "I would suspect that there are those in 
MFA and elsewhere who would be happy to increase the 
pressure, not reconcile," Viinanen said. 
 
3. (C) Putin also noted that he had instructed FM Lavrov to 
discuss this with the Estonian and Latvian FMs in Brussels. 
The Finns do not know what came of those conversations. 
Viinanen did comment that even if Putin's offer is genuine, 
U.S. and EU pressure may be needed between now and May to 
make sure the Russian promise is kept. 
 
4. (C) Regarding the use of the word "occupation," Viinanen's 
description of the Halonen-Putin conversation matches that 
given to Embassy Tallinn.  It is not clear to the Finns, 
however, whether Putin did intend to admit that an occupation 
took place, or whether this was some sort of rhetorical 
flourish intended to deflect the issue.  Putin may have 
wished to call into question the definition of "occupation," 
or the legitimacy of its application in this instance.  In 
any case, said Viinanen, "He didn't say flat out that it 
wasn't occupation." 
 
5. (U) Other aspects of the Halonen-Putin meeting are 
reported septel. 
WEISBERG