Story highlights Fried also said of European freedom, "nothing can be taken for granted, and this great achievement is now under assault by Russia."

His comments came amid widespread concerns about Trump's policy toward Russia and the future of the US relationship with Europe

(CNN) An outgoing career ambassador urged his colleagues on Friday to defend the rules-based world order in which the US supports a Europe "whole, free and at peace," a thinly veiled critique of the Trump administration, which has questioned the importance of the transatlantic alliance.

Ambassador Daniel Fried, the outgoing coordinator for sanctions policy, did not mention President Donald Trump or speak directly to his policies, but the State Department officials present understood his meaning when he said "we are not an ethno-state, with identity rooted in shared blood."

"The option of a white man's republic ended at Appomattox," he said in a farewell address at the State Department, referencing the 1865 battle that led to the surrender of the Confederate army and ended the Civil war.

Hundreds of foreign and civil service officers and current and former White House and Treasury officials gathered Tuesday to bid farewell to Fried, whose Foreign Service career spanned 40 years and seven presidencies.

His comments came amid widespread concerns about Trump's policy toward Russia and what many see as contradictory messages from Washington regarding the future relationship between the US and Europe, including whether America will support the continuation of the European Union.

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