February 8, 2014
Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland
(Photo courtesy osce.usmission.gov)
The recording of a telephone conversation of Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland who used an F-word when describing the EU policy in Ukraine is breaking records onYouTube. In less than a day the video was viewed over 40 thousand times.
Washington is not arguing the authenticity of the recording, but Nuland has already apologized to the the U.S. European allies.
The recording of a telephone conversation between Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt where they discussed the events in Ukraine was posted on YouTube.
The conversation took place after President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych suggested Arseniy Yatsenyuk (Yats, as Nuland and Pyatt called him) and Vitali Klitschko to join the government. According to the diplomats, Yatsenyuk could become a good Prime Minister. They also said that it was not a good time for Klitschko to get involved and he should stay out of the government.
The diplomats also discussed that “the problem is going to be Tyahnybok [nationalist leader] and his guys and … that’s part of what [President Viktor] Yanukovych is calculating on all this.”
The EU had a special mention in the discussion. According to Nuland, the Europeans should not interfere in the Ukrainian crisis. “OK. He’s now gotten both Serry and [UN Secretary General] Ban Ki-moon to agree that Serry could come in Monday or Tuesday. So that would be great, I think, to help glue this thing and to have the UN help glue it and, you know, F… the EU.”
Nuland’s frankness was a great success. The Assistant Secretary of State tasked with supervising Ukraine is not trying too hard to be diplomatic.