U.S. suspects Russia of bugging diplomat’s call
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials say they suspect Russia is behind the leak of an apparently bugged phone conversation about Ukraine between two senior American diplomats in which they make disparaging comments about the European Union.
The officials noted that an aide to Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin was among the first to tweet about a YouTube video that contains audio of the alleged call between the top U.S. diplomat for Europe, Victoria Nuland, and the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt. The video, which shows photos of Nuland and Pyatt, is subtitled in Russian.
In the audio, voices resembling those of Nuland and Pyatt discuss international efforts to resolve Ukraine’s ongoing political crisis. At one point, the Nuland voice colourfully suggests that the EU’s position should be ignored. “F--- the EU,” the female voice said.
In the tweet, posted seven hours before existence of the video became widely known on Thursday, the Rogozin aide, Dmitry Loskutov, opined: “Sort of controversial judgment from Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland speaking about the EU.”
White House spokesman Jay Carney pointed to the tweet and Russia’s clear interest in what has become a struggle between proMoscow and pro-Western camps in the former Soviet Republic, but declined to comment on the source of the audio.
“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,” Carney told reporters. He would not comment on the substance of the conversation, in which the Nuland and Pyatt voices also discuss their opinion of various Ukrainian opposition figures.
A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter, said the audio sounds like an authentic recording of a call that occurred last week.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that if the Russians were responsible for listening to, recording and posting a private diplomatic telephone conversation, it would be “a new low in Russian tradecraft.”
Pressed on whether the call was authentic, Psaki said: “I didn’t say it was inauthentic.”
Psaki said Nuland “has been in contact with her EU counterparts and of course has apologized for these reported comments.”