253 美俄短期内难以就导弹防御体系达成协议

253 美俄短期内难以就导弹防御体系达成协议

Missile Agreement With Russia Not Expected Quickly
Rebecca Santana
Moscow
27 Jul 2001 22:07 UTC

Russia's foreign ministry 1 says it heard no arguments from U.S. National Security Adviser 2 Condoleezza Rice that would persuade it to agree to changes in the ABM treaty against defensive 3 missiles. Ms. Rice left Moscow Thursday after discussions with Russian officials about U.S. plans to build a national missile defense 4 system. Although the two countries are on more friendly terms than earlier this year, that does not mean an agreement will be easy.
Last weekend at the Genoa 1)summit, Russian and U.S. officials agreed to link missile defense with arms reductions, but 2)analysts say the real 3)negotiations 6 are only just beginning.
The U.S. would like to build a national missile defense system to protect itself from so-called 4)rogue nations, such as North Korea and Iraq. But building such a system would require changes in or complete 5)abandonment of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which bans defensive weapons systems.
Russia calls the treaty the 6)cornerstone of international security and is opposed to changing it. The United States says the treaty is 7)outdated and too 8)restrictive.
While Ms. Rice was in Moscow the two countries set up a timetable for future talks, but no one expects the talks to be easy.
Within 24 hours of Ms. Rice's departure, a spokesman for the Russian ministry of foreign affairs, Alexander Yakovenko, was on Russian television saying Russia still believes the ABM treaty is 9)indispensable.
Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent military analyst 5, believes Russia may eventually agree to changes in the ABM treaty, but it is far too early to tell. "First of all, it turned out that the so-called deal reached just a few days ago in Genoa, between Presidents George Bush and Putin, was not really a deal at all," he says. "There is no deal and that the real 10)wrangling is just beginning."
According to Mr. Felgenhauer, what Russia really wants is economic 11)incentives. The military analyst says President Putin drove home that point during a meeting Thursday with Ms. Rice and U.S. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans and Treasury 7 Secretary Paul O'Neill. "Putin was passing the message, as far as I could see it, that Russia wants to become a member of the World Trade organization, and by the end of the year and on Russia's terms," adds Mr. Felgenhauer.
Viktor Kremenyuk is the deputy head of the USA-Canada Institute which studies relations between Russia and North America. He says Condoleezza Rice brought a more 12)conciliatory message than Washington has sent in the past. But for Mr. Kremenyuk, she was also sending the message that the United States will not wait forever for Russia to agree. "There will be an attempt on the Russian side to just drag it on and on. I wouldn't say endless negotiations, but negotiations without clear time limits," he said. "While the Americans know it and of course, they want 13)in advance to say 'no, no, no. There must be clear time limits.'"
During her visit, Ms. Rice said that Washington is now just in the research and development 14)stage of building a missile defense. However, she said there would come a time when the United States would have to 15)violate the treaty in order to continue and it was prepared to do so.

(1) summit[5sQmIt]n.顶点, 最高阶层adj.政府首脑的vi.参加最高级会议的
(2) analyst[5AnElIst]n.分析家, 分解者
(3) negotiation[nI^EJFI5eIF(E)n]n.商议, 谈判, 流通
(4) rogue[rEJ^]n.流氓, 无赖vt.欺诈vi.流浪, 耍无赖
(5) abandonment[E`bAndEnmEnt]n.放弃
(6) cornerstone[5kC:nEstEJn]n.墙角石, 基础
(7) outdated[aJt5deItId]adj.过时的, 不流行的
(8) restrictive[rI5strIktIv]adj.限制性的
(9) indispensable[IndI5spensEb(E)l]n.不可缺少之物adj.不可缺少的
(10) wrangle[5rAN^(E)l]vi.争论, 争吵, 口角vt.辩驳n.口角, 吵嘴
(11) incentive[In5sentIv]n.动机adj.激励的
(12) conciliatory[kEn`sIlIEtErI]adj.抚慰的, 调和的
(13) in advance adv.预先
(14) stage[steIdV]n.舞台, 发展的进程, 阶段或时期vt.上演,举行
(15) violate[5vaIEleIt]vt.违犯, 亵渎(圣物), 冒犯, 干扰, 违反, 妨碍