U.S. diplomat plays down leaked call; Germany's Merkel angry

KIEV, Ukraine - A top U.S. diplomat tried to play down the damage to Washington's diplomacy in Ukraine from a leaked telephone call, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel called an obscene remark about the European Union "absolutely unacceptable."

U.S. officials blamed Moscow for the Internet leak of recordings of a senior State Department official and the U.S. ambassador discussing a possible future government for Ukraine, where Washington and Brussels back anti-Kremlin protesters.

Western officials described the leaks as a throwback to the cloak-and-dagger tactics of the Cold War, apparently aimed as much at sowing discord among Western allies as at discrediting the opposition in Ukraine, a country of 46 million people torn between East and West.

Senior State Department official Victoria Nuland is heard using an expletive to tell the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, it would be better if a new Ukrainian government is backed by the United Nations than the EU.

U.S. officials have not denied the authenticity of the recording and said Nuland apologized to EU colleagues for the comment.

Merkel - already furious with Washington for several months over reports that U.S. officials bugged her own phone - found Nuland's remarks "totally unacceptable," a spokeswoman for the German chancellor said.

Nuland, who met President Viktor Yanukovich in Kiev on Thursday before the Ukrainian leader flew off to meet President Vladimir Putin at the Olympics in Russia, described the bugging and leaks as "pretty impressive tradecraft" but said it would not hurt her ties with the Ukrainian opposition.

U.S. officials said Nuland and Pyatt apparently used unencrypted cellphones, which are relatively easy to monitor.