Caught Insulting Allies, U.S. Diplomat Calls Taped F-Bomb 'Tactical'

Some call the leak a "new low in Russian tradecraft." Others "a wake up call about the way you do business."

But the State Department official caught saying "fuck the EU" in a bugged phone conversation about the future of Ukraine — which was promptly leaked to YouTube — has a new way of referring to the incident.

Assistant Secretary Victoria Nuland, who leads the State Department's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and had yet to comment on the diplomatic diss (aside to say she won't be commenting) before now, calls it "a tactical moment in time."