US apologises over insulting EU

BBC Online :Senior US official Victoria Nuland has apologised after a voice said to be hers insulted the EU while discussing the Ukraine crisis.A recording of an apparently bugged conversation was posted online, with the US hinting at Russia’s involvement.A voice resembling that of Ms Nuland refers to the EU using a graphic swear word, in a conversation apparently with the US ambassador to Ukraine.The EU and US are involved in talks to end months of unrest in Ukraine.The state department said Ms Nuland “of course has apologised” after being in contact with her “EU counterparts”. Mass anti-government protests erupted in Ukraine in late November after President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign a far-reaching association and trade agreement with the EU – under heavy pressure from Moscow.Russia has been widely accused of using its economic clout to persuade Yanukovych to abandon closer ties with Brussels.Russia has itself accused Washington and the EU of meddling in Ukraine.The alleged conversation between Ms Nuland and the US ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, appeared on YouTube on Thursday.The 4min 10sec video was entitled “Maidan’s puppets” in Russian – a reference to the square in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, where pro-EU protests have been held for months. A transcription of the whole conversation was also posted in Russian.At one point, the female speaker mentions the UN and its possible role in trying to find a solution to the Ukraine stand-off. She says: “So that would be great, I think, to help glue this thing and have the UN help glue it and you know…” she then uses the graphic swear word about the EU.The male replies: “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 two officials also discuss frankly the merits of the three main Ukrainian opposition leaders – Vitaly Klitschko, Arseniy Yatseniuk and Oleh Tyahnybok.The female speaker says that Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxing world champion, should not be in any new government. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”