VOA常速英语2008年-Rice Calls Russian Threats on Ukraine Unaccepta
时间:2019-02-14 作者:英语课 分类:VOA常速英语2008年(二月)
By David Gollust
Washington
13 February 2008
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Wednesday condemned 1 implicit 2 threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin against Ukraine, if the Kyiv government upgrades its relationship with NATO. Mr. Putin suggested Tuesday Ukraine could be targeted by Russian nuclear weapons. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.
Rice, a Soviet 3-affairs expert at the end of the Cold War era, says the current U.S.-Russian relationship has a number of positive aspects including cooperation on the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs.
But in Senate Foreign Relations Committee testimony 4, she strongly condemned Moscow's pressure tactics against former allies seeking closer ties with NATO, underscored by Mr. Putin's comments on Ukraine Tuesday in Moscow.
Rice called the Putin comments "unhelpful and really reprehensible 5" and said Moscow should realize it has no veto power over countries once in the Soviet bloc 6 who want to affiliate 7 with NATO:
"We are absolutely devoted 8 to the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine and of other states that were once a part of the Soviet Union," she said. "The Soviet Union had all of these parts, but that was another point in time. It is gone forever, and I hope that Russia understands that."
At its April summit in Bucharest, NATO leaders will consider whether to grant aspiring 9 members Croatia, Albania and Macedonia full membership, and whether to give former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia a preliminary affiliated 10 status.
The Secretary was asked by ranking committee Republican Richard Lugar whether Mr. Putin should be invited to the Bucharest summit, given what he said was Russian bullying 11 of various neighbors. Rice said the NATO-Russian Council, in which Mr. Putin would participate, would allow Moscow to see first-hand the unity 12 of the alliance.
"It's very often an opportunity for the Russians to sit and recognize that the Baltic states are part of NATO and therefore enjoy the protection of Article Five [of the NATO Charter] and of the European and North Atlantic allies. So in that sense, these sessions tend not be ones in which the alliance is intimidated 13 by Russia, but rather where a very strong message of alliance unity can be communicated," said Rice.
On another issue, Rice told senators she intends to appoint a full-time 14 special U.S. envoy 15 for energy issues, to focus in large part on critical resources in Central Asia.
Senator Lugar, a strong proponent 16 of the envoy concept, said the posting is needed to counter Russian foreign policy, which he said is largely based on maximizing the political leverage 17 Moscow has acquired through control of Eurasian energy supplies and transport.
- A soldier must give implicit obedience to his officers. 士兵必须绝对服从他的长官。
- Her silence gave implicit consent. 她的沉默表示默许。
- Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
- Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。
- The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
- He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。
- Lying is not seen as being morally reprehensible in any strong way.人们并不把撒谎当作一件应该大加谴责的事儿。
- It was reprehensible of him to be so disloyal.他如此不忠,应受谴责。
- A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
- There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。
- Our New York company has an affiliate in Los Angeles.我们的纽约公司在洛杉矶有一个下属企业。
- What is the difference between affiliate and regular membership?固定会员和附属会员之间的区别是什么?
- He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
- We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
- Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
- He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句
- The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
- All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。
- Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
- All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结,并非一团和气。
- We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前,我们必须加强团结。
- We try to make sure children don't feel intimidated on their first day at school. 我们努力确保孩子们在上学的第一天不胆怯。
- The thief intimidated the boy into not telling the police. 这个贼恫吓那男孩使他不敢向警察报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
- I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作,我不知道她是如何对付的。
- Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
- The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。
- Stapp became a strong early proponent of automobile seat belts.斯塔普是力主在汽车上采用座椅安全带的早期倡导者。
- Halsey was identified as a leading proponent of the values of progressive education.哈尔西被认为是进步教育价值观的主要支持者。