What
appears to be a hacked phone conversation between top US officials about Ukraine, in which the EU
is dismissed in crude terms, has been posted on the internet, reports Euronews.
The comments are attributed to the US
Assistant Secretary of State Karen Nuland – who met President Yanukovych and
opposition leaders separately in Kyiv on Thursday.
The date and precise context of the
recording are not known.
In the video, posted on YouTube,
Nuland and the US ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt discuss which of the
country’s opposition leaders they would like to see in government – and refer
to getting the UN involved in the process to resolve the political crisis.
In the recording the conversation is
then as follows:
Karen Nuland: “So that would be great,
I think, to help glue this thing and have the UN help glue it and you know…” At
this point she uses a swear word to dismiss the EU.
Geoffrey Pyatt: “Exactly. And I think
we’ve got to do something to make it stick together because you can be pretty
sure that if it does start to gain altitude, the Russians will be working
behind the scenes to try to torpedo it.”
The video, entitled “Maidan’s Puppets”
in Russian, also has a transcript in Russian.
The US State
Department said it did not know where the recording came from. But it
criticised Moscow for publicising it – while being suitably contrite towards
the European Union
“We work incredibly closely with the
EU and with representatives of the EU and Assistant Secretary Nuland certainly
does as it relates to Ukraine. And she’s been in close contact with EU High
Representative Ashton. Also let me convey that she has been in contact with her
EU counterparts and of course has apologised,” said State Department
spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
The video clearly aims to embarrass
the US, echoing Moscow’s accusations that the West is meddling in Ukraine.
