The U.S.’ frustration with the political manoeuvring in the Ukraine became evident this week when, in what seemed to be a leaked call with a colleague, a senior American diplomat could apparently be heard using profanity against the European Union for its hesitation in backing pro-democracy forces in that country.
On Thursday a YouTube clip with subtitles appeared to have captured the voices of the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Victoria Nuland and U.S. Ambassador to the Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt, with Ms. Nuland saying at one point, “[Expletive] the EU.”
State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki was quick to clarify that Ms. Nuland, “has been in contact with her EU counterparts and of course has apologised for these reported comments,” even though Ms. Nuland said she would not publicly comment on a private diplomatic conversation.
The Assistant Secretary however hinted that she may have victimised by a high-tech surveillance operation executed by Russian intelligence, saying, “It was pretty impressive tradecraft. [The] audio quality was very good.”
She seemed to garner the support of the White House as Obama Spokesperson Jay Carney noted, “I would say that since the video was first noted and tweeted out by the Russian government, I think it says something about Russia's role.”
He was said to have been alluding to a tweet posted by Dmitry Loskutov, an aide to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, in which Mr. Loskutov said, “Sort of controversial judgment from Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland speaking about the EU (3:01)http://t.co/ifsuc44d14”
An Associated Press report however said that Mr. Loskutov denied that either he or the Russian government had leaked the tape, rather that he had “stumbled across it while surfing a social networking website.
The controversy however did not appear to impress EU leaders, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel was quoted describing Ms. Nuland’s alleged remarks as “totally unacceptable.”
