U.S. Diplomat Lashes Out at Russia

Updated Feb. 7, 2014 4:22 p.m. ET

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland addresses a news conference at the U.S. embassy in Kiev Friday. Reuters

KIEV, Ukraine—America’s top diplomat to Europe lashed out at Russia’s alleged leak of a tapped conversation between her and another U.S. State Department official as “impressive trade craft” and dismissed a Kremlin adviser’s beliefs on U.S. involvement in Ukraine as “complete fantasy.”
The leak appeared to be a new low blow in an escalating diplomatic row between Washington and Moscow, which has in the past chastised the U.S. for its snooping scandals. Lately Russia and the U.S. have clashed over Ukraine, which has been paralyzed by a political crisis over whether to pursue closer relations to Russia or the west.
With a deadlock between the Ukraine government and protesters who control the center of the capital, the country’s finances are crumbling and the currency sliding. On Friday, Fitch downgraded Ukraine’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating, citing the political instability.
“I’m obviously not going to comment on a private diplomatic conversation except to say its pretty impressive trade craft—the conversation was pretty clear,” said Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, at the end of a one-day trip to Ukraine Friday.
The leaked recording, posted by an anonymous user on YouTube, featured a conversation between Ms. Nuland and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt as they discussed coaxing opposition leaders toward forming a coalition government.
Western diplomats say such a government may draw Kiev from Moscow’s influence, since it would help Ukraine qualify for aid from the International Monetary Fund and closer relations to the European Union.
The leak was awkward for Washington because the diplomats expressed frustration with EU diplomats who have taken a less aggressive stance than the U.S. in counterbalancing Russia in Ukraine.
Toward the end of the recording, as Ms. Nuland and Mr. Pyatt discussed enlisting the help of the United Nations in blessing a new coalition government, Ms. Nuland said “F— the EU.”
In Germany a government spokeswoman issued a statement Friday saying Chancellor Angela Merkel considered the statement “absolutely unacceptable.” The spokeswoman, Christiane Wirtz added, that Ms. Merkel believes that EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who has been shuttling in and out of Ukraine to help mediate the crisis, is “doing an excellent job.”
U.S. officials say they suspect the recordings were leaked and perhaps made by Russia because an aide to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin was among the first to point them out through his Twitter account.
The aide, Dmitry Loskutov, told the Associated Press on Friday that neither he nor the Russian government was responsible for the recording. He said he came upon the recording by chance while surfing a social networking website Thursday.
The leaked recordings come amid sharpened Kremlin rhetoric toward U.S. involvement in Ukraine, which Moscow regards as a country within its traditional sphere of influence. Earlier this week a top Kremlin adviser, Sergei Glazyev, said in a newspaper interview that the U.S. is arming and training opposition forces in Ukraine, and that Russia could be obliged to respond, without elaborating.
At her news conference in Kiev Friday, Ms. Nuland said Mr. Glazyev’s interview was “complete fantasy—he could be a science fiction writer—it is quite inventive.”
Ms. Nuland delivered her comments at the end of a one-day trip to Ukraine in which she met with Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych and his critics, and tried to get them to cooperate on forming a coalition government that the U.S. and EU could support with an IMF program.
The EU and U.S. hope that an IMF package could provide a way out of the crisis, which was sparked last year when Mr. Yanukovych abruptly shelved plans for signing an EU cooperation agreement and instead accepted a $15 billion aid package from Moscow.
Ukraine has failed to pass the hurdles of two previous IMF programs, and Ms. Nuland stressed that the West needed to see a coalition government committed to economic reforms before discussing a new package. “The support will be substantial for a Ukraine that is reformed.”
But Ms. Nuland could point to no breakthroughs during her trip, although she spoke for more than four hours with Mr. Yanukovych on Thursday. During talks “the spirit was good, but there is a lot of work to do.”
Although Mr. Yanukovich last month dismissed his cabinet and prime minister and offered posts to his critics, they have refused the jobs because the presidency under Ukraine’s constitution holds most of the power.
Mr. Yanukovych has so far refused to discuss any quick changes to the constitution to distribute power more evenly between the presidency and prime minister. On Friday he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, but no details emerged about what the men talked about. Aides to Mr. Yanukovych said that important decisions on formation of a new government are being held up until after that meeting.
Write to Alan Cullison at alan.cullison@wsj.com

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