"This is a new low in Russian tradecraft," Secretary of State spokesperson Jen Psaki said Thursday, adding that she doesn't have independent information about the source of the audio but she pointed the finger at Russian officials who have actively promoted and published the conversation on social media.
She didn't certify that audio was legitimate but did say, "I didn't say it was inauthentic."
The Kyiv Post reported that the conversation appears to have taken place after Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's Jan. 25 offer to opposition leader Arseniy Yatseniuk to be prime minister and former pro boxer Vitali Klitschko, to be deputy prime minister.
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In the recording, the American diplomats appear to be cooking up a strategy of their own.
"I don't think it's a good idea," Nuland reportedly says in the recording, referencing Klitschko.
In the conversation, the two Americans go back and forth with updates on the situation and then Nuland comments on how Europe has responded to the unrest, saying UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has arranged for a UN official to travel to Ukraine to "help glue this thing and to have the UN glue it."
"And you know, f--k the EU," she adds about the organization, annoyed that they haven't taken a more active role to quell the unrest.
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The YouTube video with audio of the conversation emerged this week.
Dmitry Loskutov, an aide to Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin, tweeted the leaked audio, with the message, "Sort of controversial judgment from Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland speaking about the EU."
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney wouldn't comment on the legitimacy of the audio at a Thursday press briefing but suggested Russia was to blame.
"I’m not going to comment on the content,” Carney said, adding, “The video was first noted and tweeted out by the Russian government, I think it says something about Russia's role," Carney told reporters.
Psaki denied that the U.S. government was trying to strong arm a deal.
“I wouldn't overanalyze a couple of words on a phone call,” she said Thursday at a briefing, insisting it was just "a couple of minutes from a recorded call... and it doesn't reflect every debate that happens."
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