US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN1020

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 001020 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN, EUR/SNEC, H 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/10/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PARM, AM, AJ, GG, RU 
SUBJECT: SENATOR HAGEL'S VISIT TO YEREVAN 
 
REF: A) YEREVAN 900 B) STATE 99856 (NODIS) 
 
Classified By: Amb. John Evans for reasons 1.4 (b, d). 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1. (SBU) In a brief stop as part of a larger trip to the 
region, Senator Chuck Hagel, along with EUCOM Deputy 
Commander Charles Wald and other DOD personnel, visited 
Yerevan June 2-3.  During his visit the Senator discussed 
regional stability, military cooperation as well as progress 
on economic and democratic reforms with President Kocharian 
and Minister of Defense Sargsian and visited Armenia's 
fledgling peacekeeping battalion.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------------------- 
SENATOR NOTES ARMENIA'S CONTRIBUTIONS 
------------------------------------- 
 
2. (C) Senator Hagel's first stop was to Armenia's 
peacekeeping battalion.  While this unit is a battalion on 
paper, it in fact consists of only about 200 troops. 
Nonetheless, this is the unit from which Armenia's 
contingents to Iraq and Kosovo are drawn.  Senator Hagel 
thanked Armenia for its contribution to these critical 
multilateral operations.  In follow-on meetings, the Senator 
thanked President Kocharian and Minister of Defense Sergsian 
for their roles in moving the U.S.-Armenia defense 
relationship forward.  The President cited recent 
developments in the Defense Assessment as indicative of the 
improved relationship, and Minister Sargsian touted the 
soon-to-be-presented NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan 
(IPAP) as strong evidence of Armenia's closer defense 
relationship with the U.S. and NATO. 
 
----------------------------------- 
REGIONAL SECURITY: NAGORNO-KARABAKH 
----------------------------------- 
 
3. (C) Reporting a generally positive view of the current 
discussions on Nagorno-Karabakh (N-K), and reiterating 
Armenia's fundamental positions as previously reported (ref 
B), President Kocharian noted that although he had thought 
the process was at an impasse, his latest meeting with 
Azerbaijani President Aliyev had had "some encouraging 
elements."  The President outlined for the Senator and 
General Wald the state of play (ref B) and claimed, "The 
negotiation process is going in a good direction." 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
REGIONAL SECURITY: RUSSIAN BASES AND GEORGIA 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
4. (C) Both President Kocharian and Minister of Defense 
Sargsian emphasized that Russia already had bases in Armenia, 
and that moving equipment from its current bases in Georgia 
to its bases in Armenia required no new agreements, and fit 
easily within current agreements.  In fact, Kocharian noted 
that moving Russian materiel from Georgia to Armenia was "not 
a major issue for us," and underlined the fact that having 
the equipment in Armenia made it easier for Russia to meet 
its CFE commitments.  Kocharian also claimed that a major 
Russian concern was that Armenia might be next in line to 
demand closure of its Russian bases; as he noted, "It was 
important to help solve this" impasse.  Claiming that he 
didn't understand reported Azerbaijani concerns about 
relocating the Russian military equipment to Armenia, 
Kocharian noted that, "We never made a big issue of their 
weapons acquisitions," and continued to assert that 
Azerbaijan had acquired artillery from Russia roughly seven 
months ago and that they had also purchased weaponry from 
Ukraine.  "It's their business, not ours," Kocharian insisted. 
 
----------------------- 
REGIONAL SECURITY: IRAN 
----------------------- 
 
5. (C) President Kocharian told the Senator that, although 
Armenia wants closer relations with NATO, Armenia will move 
more slowly than its neighbors "because of Iran."  At the end 
of the day, President Kocharian noted, "Relations with Iran 
are more important for us than for our neighbors."  Minister 
of Defense Sargsian commented, however, that military 
relations between Iran and Armenia were practically 
non-existent. 
 
------------------------------------- 
DEMOCRATIC AND CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS 
------------------------------------- 
 
6. (C) The Senator raised the issue of Armenia's need to 
continue its democratic reforms and noted that, "As you 
develop your democratic institutions, we stand with you." 
President Kocharian explained that the GOAM is completing 
work on constitutional reforms (in line with its Council of 
Europe (CoE) obligations) and hoped to put the amendments to 
a referendum in the fall.  Kocharian claimed that the 
"current constitution does not hold us back, however," 
claiming that although he has de jure power to dissolve the 
National Assembly or to remove boycotting opposition 
parliamentarians he would never do that and "no one has ever 
used this power."  Kocharian acknowledged that the two major 
outstanding issues for constitutional reform were properly 
guaranteeing human rights and reforming the judiciary.  He 
noted that Armenia had already signed and ratified all 
conventions that were needed by the CoE, and outlined some of 
the difficulties that he anticipates in getting even a good 
set of constitutional amendments through a referendum -- the 
threshold was so high, he said, that it is very hard to pass 
a referendum, and very easy to block one.  He hoped to ensure 
a better turnout for the referendum by scheduling it with 
local elections in the fall. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
COMMENT: GOAM-US SECURITY RELATIONSHIP GROWING, SLOWLY 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
7. (C) If even one year ago Foreign Minister Oskanian was 
candidly admitting that the GOAM gave Russia a de facto veto 
on matters involving NATO and closer military cooperation 
with the U.S., over the course of the past year the 
U.S.-Armenia security relationship has grown dramatically 
(ref A).  In 2004 Armenia sent a platoon of peacekeepters to 
Kosovo with a Greek battalion and in January of this year 
sent a non-combatant contingent to Iraq.  Armenia also 
ratified the NATO Partnership for Peace Status of Forces 
Agreement, concluded an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing 
Agreement (ACSA) with the U.S, ratified an Article 98 
Agreement, begun a defense assessment, and is finishing an 
Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with NATO that it 
plans to present in Brussels in mid-June.  Our security 
relationship is expanding, and we are actively working to 
help Armenia develop a constructive security posture in the 
region. 
 
8. (U) Senator Hagel has cleared on this message. 
EVANS