US embassy cable - 05LJUBLJANA629

C O N F I D E N T I A L LJUBLJANA 000629 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SI 
SUBJECT: OSCE CO-CHAIRS BRIEF CIO RUPEL 
 
 
Classified By: CDA Maryruth Coleman for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C)  Summary:  Minsk Group Co-Chairs briefed OSCE CIO 
Rupel on the eve of his Caucasus trip.  The Co-Chairs advised 
that progress on Karabakh would be on hold until after the 
November Azerbaijan elections.  They encouraged the CIO to 
probe with Presidents Kocharian and Aliyev for candid 
readouts of their Kazan meeting and for next steps 
post-November in the peace process.  End summary. 
 
2. (C)  OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Steven Mann, Yuri 
Merzlyakov (Russia), and OSCE Representative Kaspyrczk met in 
Ljubljana August 28 with Slovenian FM and OSCE CIO Dmitrij 
Rupel at the latter's request to brief him on developments in 
the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations.  French Co-Chair Fassier 
was unable to be present but dispatched his assistant to 
attend the meeting.  Rupel will travel to Tbilisi, Yerevan, 
and Baku September 4-6 and requested an update from the 
mediators.  The Co-Chairs came to Slovenia from Russia, where 
they met with Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers and 
hosted a tete-a-tete meeting in Kazan between the two 
presidents. 
 
3. (C)  Merzlyakov said the situation was well-timed for a 
CIO visit and he complimented Rupel on being the first CIO to 
do two visits to the Caucasus in his term in office.  He 
sketched out the situation in the talks since May (when Rupel 
met with the Co-Chairs in Warsaw).  The same basic positions 
remain on the table since Warsaw; there are gaps between the 
sides that still need to be narrowed.  The Co-Chairs tried to 
close those gaps in Kazan but did not succeed.  They believed 
that no progress would be possible before the November 
elections.  The Co-Chairs were, however, encouraged by the 
continuing positive atmospherics between the two presidents. 
The window for a resolution is 2006.  Mann noted that the 
Co-Chairs are planning to meet separately with each foreign 
minister in the weeks ahead to get a candid view from each 
side about the Kazan meeting, but that Rupel's visit offered 
a superb opportunity to get such a readout.  He would be the 
first OSCE official to see either president after Kazan. 
Rupel agreed to offer the Co-Chairs a readout after his trip. 
 
4. (C)  Rupel asked for advice on handling the Azerbaijani 
request for OSCE assistance in conducting elections in 
Karabakh for Azerbaijani parliamentary seats.  The Co-Chairs 
advised that they considered this request fundamentally 
propagandistic and suggested that Rupel turn the question 
around if raised:  how would this move the negotiations 
forward?  How did Azerbaijan expect that this could be 
practically implemented? 
 
5. (C)  Rupel looked forward to the OSCE Ministerial and 
hoped strongly for an agreed statement on Nagorno-Karabakh. 
The Co-Chairs assessed chances of a statement as very likely 
and agreed to take on the task of developing a draft in 
advance of the Ministerial. 
 
6. (U)  Ambassador Mann has cleared this cable. 
 
COLEMAN 
 
 
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 2005LJUBLJ00629 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL 


 
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