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07Feb14

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EU declines comments on alleged Nuland insult

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A spokeswoman of the European Union (EU) said on Friday the bloc has no comment on the alledged insult on its Ukranian policy by U.S. top diplomat for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland.

On Thursday, a leaked recording of alledged telephone conversation between Nuland and the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey R. Pyatt was published on YouTube, in which a female voice was heard saying "Fuck the EU", and a male voice answered "exactly", when they were discussing the EU's diplomatic policy towards Ukraine.

A U.S. state department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, on Thursday indirectly confirmed the authenticity of the audio clip. Psaki told media that Nuland "has been in contact with her EU counterparts, and of course, has apologized."

Even though, the spokeswoman of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton declined to comment on the issue. She only said that the bloc was engaged in helping the people of Ukraine out of the current political crisis.

However, German chancellor Angela Merkel seemed to be angry on the conversation. Her spokeswoman told media that Merkel considered the statement "absolutely unacceptable", and she had praised Ashton's outstanding job in handling the Ukraine crisis.

The foreign ministers of the EU's 28 member states will meet on Monday in Brussels, where an in-depth discussion on recent events in Ukraine was expected.

Some of them are mulling restrictive measures against Ukraine, including visa ban and assets freezing, an EU diplomat told Xinhua, "Maybe someone will raise the topic on the meeting."

[Source: Xinhua, Brussels, 07Feb14]

Russian Affairs

This document has been published on 10Feb14 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.