09ASTANA604, KAZAKHSTAN: PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR SARYBAY SAYS

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Reference ID	Created	Released	Classification	Origin
09ASTANA604	2009-04-08 10:14	2011-08-30 01:44	SECRET	Embassy Astana

VZCZCXRO2389
OO RUEHBC RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHFL RUEHKUK RUEHKW
RUEHLA RUEHLH RUEHNP RUEHPW RUEHROV
DE RUEHTA #0604/01 0981014
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 081014Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5115
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE 1465
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0843
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0530
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1546
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RHEFAAA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC 1028
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC 0941
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 0068
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2259
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 2589

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 000604 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/A, NEA/IR, ISN, CA/OCS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2034 
TAGS: PREL PGOV CASC MARR KNNP IAEA AF IR KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN:  PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR SARYBAY SAYS 
AHMADINEJAD WELCOMED OBAMA,S PRAGUE SPEECH 
 
REF: A. ASTANA 0601 
     ¶B. ASTANA 0557 
     ¶C. STATE 31102 
     ¶D. ASTANA 0547 (NOTAL) 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland, Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
¶1. (S) SUMMARY:  On April 8, Presidential Foreign Policy 
Advisor Kairat Sarybay gave the Ambassador a readout of 
President Nazarbayev's April 6 meeting with Iranian President 
Ahmadinejad.  Sarybay said that Ahmadinejad appeared to 
welcome President Obama's April 5 Prague speech.  Ahmadinejad 
maintained that he had taken the first step, by writing a 
letter to Obama.  The Kazakhstanis believe that U.S. 
cooperation with Iran in Afghanistan could lead to 
cooperation in other areas.  Sarybay explained that 
Nazarbayev's March 30 comment to the Ambassador that 
Kazakhstan could provide a "logistical base" for Afghanistan 
meant that Kazakhstan could be a storage location and source 
for supplies to the Coalition, in addition to being a transit 
country.  The Ambassador raised ref C demarche requesting 
specific Kazakhstani contributions to Afghanistan; Sarybay 
promised to review the request.   Sarybay recommended 
remaining in close touch with the MFA about the case of Peace 
Corps volunteer Anthony Sharp.  END SUMMARY. 
 
AHMADINEJAD APPEARED TO WELCOME PRAGUE SPEECH 
 
¶2. (S) On April 8, Presidential Foreign Policy Advisor Kairat 
Sarybay gave the Ambassador a readout of President 
Nazarbayev's April 6 meeting in Astana with Iranian President 
Ahmadinejad.  (NOTE:  See ref A for State Secretary 
Saudabayev's readout of the meeting.  END NOTE.)  Sarybay 
explained, "It was interesting to speak with Ahmadinejad. 
He'll most probably be re-elected, but he was modest about 
it, saying 'Let's see what the Iranian people will do.'" 
According to Sarybay, the Kazakhstanis were worried that 
Ahmadinejad would misuse his Astana visit as a platform "for 
other claims" (NFI, but likely this means inappropriate 
public statements or outbursts), but this didn't come to 
pass. 
 
¶3. (S) Sarybay said that Ahmadinejad welcomed efforts to 
increase Kazakhstan-Iran trade -- including Kazakhstani wheat 
exports to Iran -- and to develop the necessary transport 
infrastructure for this.  It was the Iranian side, he 
explained, that had proposed building a railway from western 
Kazakhstan through Turkmenistan to Iran.  There are also 
plans to build a roadway parallel to the rail line, Sarybay 
added, looking a little skeptical. 
 
¶4. (S) Sarybay said that while he would not describe 
Ahmadinejad as "very optimistic," he nevertheless appeared to 
welcome President Obama's April 5 Prague speech.   According 
to Sarybay, Ahmadinejad said, "I took the first step, despite 
domestic pressure.  I wrote to Obama.   We are ready (NFI)." 
Explaining that while Ahmadinejad was cautious, Sarybay 
nevertheless read the situation as "promising," though 
perhaps not leading to immediate negotiations.   The 
Kazakhstanis asked Ahmadinejad whether both sides -- the 
United States and Iran -- are ready for a meeting between the 
Secretary and Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki.  "Ahmadinejad 
turned to Mottaki and asked, 'Are you ready?'; Mottaki 
silently shook his head yes."  Nazarbayev and Ahmadinejad 
agreed that Kazakhstan and Iran need to be more involved in 
Afghanistan.  "If the United States and the West can 
cooperate more with Iran in Afghanistan, this should lead to 
more cooperation in other areas, including non-proliferation, 
and all the countries in the region will benefit," Sarybay 
argued to the Ambassador. 
 
NUCLEAR FUEL BANK 
 
ASTANA 00000604  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶5. (C) Sarybay noted that during the Ahmadinejad visit, 
Nazarbayev had announced Kazakhstan's offer to host the 
Nuclear Threat Initiative's IAEA-supervised international 
nuclear fuel bank.  The Ambassador explained that he had 
discussed the issue with State Secretary Saudabayev on April 
7 (ref A).  He said the United States welcomes the proposal 
in principle, and that we are in the process of providing 
Saudabayev with our formal response. 
 
CLARIFICATION OF "LOGISTICAL BASE" REMARKS 
 
¶6. (C) The Ambassador asked Sarybay to clarify a remark from 
his March 30 meeting with Nazarbayev, when Nazarbayev said 
that Kazakhstan could provide a "logistical base" for 
Afghanistan (see refs A and B).   Sarybay said that as far as 
he understood, this meant that Kazakhstan could be a storage 
location and source for supplies for the Coalition in 
Afghanistan, in addition to being a transit country.  He 
admitted that Nazarbayev had been thinking out loud when he 
suggested this concept. 
 
SPECIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS TO AFGHANISTAN 
 
¶7. (C) Per ref C, the Ambassador raised with Sarybay the U.S. 
government's Afghanistan-Pakistan strategic review, and 
provided him with non-papers on the review and our request to 
Kazakhstan for specific contributions to Afghanistan.  The 
Ambassador explained that we would also be raising this issue 
with the MFA.  Sarybay promised to review the request. 
 
ANTHONY SHARP CASE 
 
¶8. (C) The Ambassador thanked Sarybay for his advice 
regarding the criminal case against Peace Corps volunteer 
Anthony Sharp, explaining he had had a good conversation with 
Nazarbayev about it on March 30 (ref D).  Sarybay asked 
whether the matter is now closed.   The Ambassador responded 
that we are just waiting for the courts to finish the 
paperwork, and then we hope Sharp will be able to depart the 
country.  Sarybay recommended remaining in close touch with 
the MFA about the case. 
HOAGLAND

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