VOA常速英语2014--争取恢复对乌天然气供应的协商继续进行

Talks to Resume on Winter Gas for Ukraine 争取恢复对乌天然气供应的协商继续进行

LONDON— 

Ukrainian and Russian officials will meet again next week in an effort to settle their dispute over natural gas supplies that threatens to leave Ukraine short of heating fuel for the coming winter.

The dispute is complex, with economic and geopolitical dimensions, and it will unfold shortly after voters go to the polls on Sunday in the first parliamentary election since the overthrow 1 of the Moscow-backed leader Viktor Yanukovich.

It seemed there was a breakthrough at a rare meeting October 17 between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents.  

看来在10月17日俄罗斯和乌克兰总统举行的罕见会议上双方取得了突破。

"We agreed with Ukrainian partners on the conditions of the resumption of the gas supplies to Ukraine, at least for the winter period," Russian President Vladimir Putin said that day.

俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京当天说，“就恢复对乌克兰至少今年冬天的天然气供应的条件上我们与乌克兰方达成一致。”

“We have agreed on the main parameters 2 of the contract and we are now continuing talks on the resources to cover the shortage of funds," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

乌克兰总统波罗申科说，“我们已就协议的主要参数达成一致，还将继续就利用该资源来弥补资金短缺一事做进一步协商。”

But follow-up talks failed to deliver an agreement on the details. And that same day, during a visit to a military base in the midst of the parliamentary election campaign, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk was in a combative 3 mood.

但随后的谈判未能就细节达成协议，就在当天，乌克兰总理亚采纽克带着战斗的情绪参观了一个军事基地，当时正处于议会选举活动期间。

"I will tell you frankly 4, I think Putin doesn't want to sign any agreement, and his goal is to freeze Ukraine," he said. "We must be ready for the worst-case scenario 5."

“我要坦诚告诉大家的是，我想普京不会签署任何协议的，他的目的就是冻结乌克兰。我们必须做最坏的准备。”

Impact on industry

Ukraine depends on Russian gas not only for cooking and heating, but also for its energy-inefficient factories, mainly the eastern part of the country, including in areas controlled by Russian-backed rebels.

乌克兰需要俄罗斯的天然气来满足做饭和加热之用，还要满足其能效不高的工厂的需求，这些工厂主要分布在该国东部，包括被俄罗斯支持的叛军控制下的地区。

That's a big part of the problem, said Pierre Noel, who specializes in economics and energy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a global security organization.

在国际安全组织国际战略研究所专门研究经济和能源的皮埃尔·诺埃尔说，这就是个大问题。

"In the long term, nothing has been solved," Noel said, speaking via Skype. "Ukraine is in a very difficult economic situation. It was before the conflict. The conflict sharply aggravated 6 that."

“从长远来看，什么问题都没有解决。乌克兰在经济上很困难，冲突之前就很困难，而这场冲突令情况更糟。”

After Ukraine’s pro-Russian president was ousted 7 in February, Russia cancelled three discounts it had given Ukraine on a gas price set five years ago. Ukraine can’t afford that price now.

在1月份乌克兰亲俄总统被驱逐后，俄罗斯就取消了5年前设定的对乌三项供气折扣，乌克兰目前承担不起天然气的价格。

It’s not a popular view in Kyiv, but some experts see the possibility of trading recognition of a Russian role in eastern Ukraine for a new discount.

在基辅这个观点并不普遍，但有专家认为乌克兰可能以承认俄罗斯在本国东部角色的做法来获得新的折扣。

"This is the logic 8 behind the talk of federalization of Ukraine," Noel said. "Without breaking up the country politically, you would allow those eastern industrial provinces to keep their sort of special relationship with Russia."

“这就是乌克兰同盟协商背后的逻辑，无需从政治上分解该国，只是允许东部的工业省份与俄罗斯保持某种特殊的关系。”

Russian natural gas facilities provide crucial supplies for much of Europe, including Ukraine. At the same time, Russia is under heavy Western sanctions for annexing 9 Crimea and meddling 10 in eastern Ukraine.

俄罗斯的天然气工厂对包括乌克兰在内的欧洲大部分地区提供关键的天然气供应，同时，俄罗斯因吞并克里米亚并干预乌克兰东部而受到西方国家的严厉制裁。

All that complicates 11 the effort to reach agreement on Ukraine’s natural gas supply, as winter approaches and talks resume next week.

随着冬天的到来和下周会谈的继续进行，所有这一切使得为乌克兰天然气供应达成协议的努力变得复杂化。

Sunday polls

President Poroshenko called on Ukrainians on Saturday to elect a majority on Sunday that would see through a pro-Europe, reform agenda and break with the Soviet 12 past.

Expecting a big win for his political bloc 13 in the first parliamentary contest since the ouster of Yanukovich, Poroshenko said he saw a “radically new” assembly emerging on Sunday.

But to push through his reform strategy, he needed “a majority in the Verkhovna Rada [parliament], one that is for reform and not corrupt 14, one that is pro-Ukrainian and pro-European and not pro-Soviet,” he said in a televised address to the people.

“Without such a majority in parliament, the president's program which millions of Ukrainians believed in in June will simply remain on paper,” he said.

Poroshenko, who was elected president in May by a landslide 15 after “Euromaidan” street protests ousted Yanukovich, called Sunday's snap vote to clear out Yanukovich loyalists from parliament and secure increased legitimacy 16 for Kyiv's pro-Western leadership in the face of pressure from Russia.

He also pledged to stick to his peace plan to find a negotiated end to the conflict in the east and ruled out ordering any military storm of separatist strongholds such as the city of Donetsk.

“We can only get those territories back by a political settlement and not by military means," he said. "Nobody will stop me from seeking a peaceful way out of the situation.”