'Nuland apologized, but didn't mention US plans to midwife a new govt in Ukraine'

So long as the US and the EU are united in efforts to replace the government in Kiev, they will tolerate internal spats, Nebojsa Malic, foreign policy expert, told RT.

RT:The EU is one of the most powerful political bloc's in the world. Are we likely to see thestatementsattributed toNulanddamaging relations with Washington?

Nebojsa Malic: Honestly, if I were the EU official, I would demand an apology but considering that they are on the same page with the US government, considering setting up a client regime in Ukraine, I’m inclined to believe that Brussels and various officials there, including commissars including Baroness Catherine Ashton, would tend to gloss over it. Again it’s not necessarily what is done but who does it to whom. And so long as they are united in efforts to replace the government in Kiev with somebody more obedient, they'll tolerate internal spats. Honesty, even the US wiretapping of the EU officials hasn’t done really much to damage relations despite obvious problems with it. I would hold my breath to see the Europeans cleave away from the US on this. On the other hand, it’s very ironic that the US efforts are being effectively undone by the wiretapped phone conversation.

RT:Nuland apologized to her European counterparts, before the State Department tried to laugh it off. Do you think it goes a little deeper than that?

NM: She has apologized for a comment that she is not admitting she made, which is itself a conformation that the comment was indeed made. But what she hasn’t apologized for is the plans to midwife a new government in Ukraine. In other words, she is apologizing for cussing out the EU but she is not apologizing for trying to overthrow the government in Kiev, calling it popular democracy. Obviously there is more to it than that. I don't think anyone in the US establishment feels sorry for what they are trying to do, I think they are very proud of it and they are going to pursue it.

RT:Where do you think the recording came from?

NM: That I honestly don’t know. I’m as stumped as you are. I think it’s most ironic that the US which is collecting everybody’s phone conversations and has been for years had the tables turned in such a fashion, but how the phone conversation came to light I have no idea.

RT:The US accused Russia of hitting a 'new low' for the release of the conversation, given America's own global spying program that's a little rich isn't it?

NM: Well, it’s hypocrisy at its finest. “We are entitled to wiretap the world but Lord forbid somebody else who does it.” Yet, another confirmation that I have been maintaining for several years now is the ultimate hypocrisy of Western policy. Again, it’s not what is being done but who does it to whom. When the US spies on the world that’s fine and good, when the world spies on the US it is obviously horrible and won’t be tolerated. When the US purports to capture a phone intercept somewhere and doesn’t authenticate it and treats it as fact, that’s fine, when somebody else uses the phone receptors of US officials talking, that’s obviously an outrage and won’t be tolerated. Again and again and again, it’s not what has been done but who does it.

RT:This talking about the different opposition leaders, who is going where, is more like a chess game. What power do they really have there?

NM: Consider who is funding these rebels and protesters, where logistics are coming from. They say “OK, we need an international personality to visit” and there is an international personality. They say “We need a high government official identified by name to bless it” and he does exactly that. There is obvious evidence confirming what is actually going on there. Considering that there have been pamphlets found among the rioters, there are exact replicas that have been used previously in Serbia and in Egypt, offered by the people who are on the pay roll of the US government through various US non-governmental institutions and institutes. Again, it’s not very difficult to piece the picture together.

RT:In the alleged call, Nuland wanted to, in slightly different language, freeze out the EU and Klitschko. How are such comments going to be greeted in Ukraine?

NM: If I were Klitschko, I’d be really upset. If I were the other two leaders of the rebels, I’d be upset too. Here we have the situation when a high ranking official of the US government, who has even been to Kiev distributing cookies to demonstrators back to when they were still relatively peaceful, is referring to these guys as "Klitch," "Yatsy" and "Tiny Bock." I would seriously be upset. I would consider this an insult.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.