US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN435

C O N F I D E N T I A L YEREVAN 000435 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/CACEN 
USNATO FOR TOM UNDERWOOD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, AM, NATO 
SUBJECT: ARMENIA'S TENTATIVE STEPS TOWARDS NATO 
 
REF: YEREVAN 287 
 
Classified By: DCM A.F. Godfrey for reasons 1.4 (b, d) 
 
SUMMARY 
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1.  (C) Armenia is making steady progress in preparing its 
NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) and plans to 
have a document ready for presentation to the Alliance on 
April 7.  Armenia's plans for its developing relationship 
with NATO do not include membership, but it is exploring ways 
to take advantage of reform tools provided by the Alliance 
and also to prepare capabilities which could be of use in 
joint operations.  A February 24 visit to Yerevan by Bob 
Simmons, the NATO Secretary General's Special Rep for the 
South Caucasus, helped focus Armenia's efforts in preparing 
its IPAP.  Simmons praised new inter-agency drafting efforts, 
encouraged drafters to collaborate informally with NATO 
before presentation and, in public statements,  reassured 
skeptics that NATO is not in competition with Russia for 
influence in Armenia.  Simmons rejected press speculation 
about a role for NATO in peacekeeping operations in 
Nagorno-Karabakh and encouraged Armenia to continue work 
within the OSCE Minsk Group. End Summary. 
 
Armenia Seeks NATO Engagement, Not Membership 
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2.  (C) While Armenia does not plan to seek a membership 
track with NATO, its cooperation with the Alliance is 
increasing.  NATO Assistant Secretary General Bob Simmons 
told us that he was impressed with the work of the 
inter-ministerial group working on Armenia's IPAP.  He said 
that the while the MFA and MOD understood how to work with 
NATO, other ministries did not and this hampered drafting 
somewhat.  Simmons said that Armenia hopes to have a 
presentation document ready to present in Brussels on April 
7.  He encouraged GOAM officials to use a March visit of PfP 
Planning and Review Process (PARP) experts to focus IPAP 
drafting efforts.  Deputy DefMin Aghabekian told us that 
Armenia plans to take full advantage of A/SYG Simmons' 
invitation to consult informally with NATO experts before the 
GOAM makes its presentation. 
 
3.  (C) Hrachia Taschian, the MFA's NATO desk officer told us 
that Armenia looks to use the IPAP process to push forward on 
defense reform issues.  Reading from the MOD's current draft 
submission to the IPAP, Taschian said the MOD was willing to 
discuss structural reform, interoperability, continuing PfP 
NATO exercises, defense training and education, liaison 
arrangements, modernization of communication equipment, 
defense economics and budget, and other issues as well. 
 
4.  (C) While Armenia is pursuing closer collaboration with 
NATO, it would not do so at the expense of its relations with 
Russia.  In a recent visit by Russian FM Lavrov, both the 
Armenian FM and President Kocharian assured him that Armenia 
would not reconsider the presence of Russian bases in Armenia 
(ref), and MFA contacts sometimes describe Armenia's doctrine 
of "complementarity" as more realist than the policies of its 
Westward-leaning neighbors.  In comments to the press, A/SYG 
Simmons said that NATO is not in competition with Russia for 
Armenia.  Simmons told us that this was a key concern of 
President Kocharian as well; Simmons briefed Armenia's 
president on the state of the NATO-Russia relationship.  He 
said Kocharian was relieved the relationship is positive. 
 
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COMMENT 
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6. (C) We have pressed Armenia's defense institutions hard to 
become more transparent.  This steady engagement on all 
fronts, including by EUCOM, by NATO and through increased 
assistance programs is starting to bear fruit.  Armenia's top 
defense planners are now talking to us about post-conflict 
restructuring and downsizing.  They are also consulting with 
us on what capabilities would be best for Armenia to develop 
for peacekeeping operations.  We will continue to seek 
opportunities to press the GOAM to continue in this 
direction, even if forward progress remains slow. 
EVANS