Ukraine crisis: Leaked phone call embarrasses US
Victoria Nuland (right) met President Yanukovych in Kiev on Thursday An apparently hacked phone conversation during which a senior US diplomat disparages the EU over the Ukraine crisis has been posted online.
A voice resembling that of Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland reported tells the US envoy to Ukraine: "F*** the EU".
The US said Ms Nuland had "apologised for these reported comments".
The audio also reveals a frank exchange about America's strategy on how to work with Ukraine's main opposition leaders.
The tape appeared on YouTube after Russia had accused Washington of meddling in Ukraine.
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 itself has been widely accused of intervening in Ukraine, using its economic clout to persuade Mr Yanukovych to abandon closer ties with Brussels in favour of Russia and other ex-Soviet states.
'Not good idea'The alleged conversation between Ms Nuland and the US Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, appeared on YouTube on Thursday.
The 4min10sec video was entitled "Maidan's puppets" in Russian and also had a transcription of the whole conversation 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.
"So that would be great, I think, to help glue this thing and have the UN help glue it and you know... f*** the EU," she says.
The two officials also discuss frankly the merits of the three main Ukrainian opposition leaders - Vitaly Klitschko, Arseniy Yatseniuk and Oleh Tyahnybok - in the conversation.
The phone call apparently suggests Vitaly Klitschko should not be a part of government 
The protests are continuing in Kiev The female speaker says that Mr Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxing world champion, should not be in any new government.
"I don't think it's a good idea."
US officials refused to confirm or deny the tape's authenticity, but state department spokeswoman Jan Psaki said: "I didn't say it was inauthentic."
Ms Psaki said Ms Nuland had "been in contact with her EU counterparts and of course has apologised for these reported comments".
An EU official told the BBC: "The EU is engaged in helping the people of Ukraine through the current political crisis. We don't comment on alleged leaked telephone conversations."
Sochi summitMs Psaki hinted that the tape could have been leaked by Moscow, pointing out that a senior Russian official was one of the first to draw attention to the audio.
She said: "We think this is a new low in Russian trade-craft. This is something they've been actively promoting, posting on, tweeting about."
White House spokesman Jay Carney added: "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."
Earlier on Thursday, a senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Washington of interfering into Ukraine's domestic affairs.
Sergei Glazyev said the US was spending $20m (£12.3m; 14.8m euros) a week on Ukrainian opposition groups, supplying "rebels" with arms among other things.
And he suggested that Moscow could also intervene.
Mr Yanukovych is due to meet Mr Putin on Friday in Sochi, on the opening day of the Winter Olympic Games there.
Mr Yanukovych held talks in Kiev with Ms Nuland on Thursday, at which he said he favoured dialogue and compromise with the opposition.
Also in the capital, thousands of Ukrainian opposition activists, some carrying shields and baseball bats, marched from their camp on Independence Square to parliament in a show of force.
They came close to government supporters who are camped next to parliament behind barricades manned by hundreds of police, but the march passed off peacefully.
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