The U.S. is giving Ukraine weapons and political support, but not troops

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The U.S. is giving Ukraine weapons and political support, but not troops

Transcript¹

The U.S. and its partners have sent weapons to Ukraine. They've provided political and moral support. But if Russia invades, Ukraine's army looks to be largely on its own against a stronger force.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

At his lengthy² press conference yesterday, President Biden said he thought it more likely than not that Russian leader Vladimir Putin would move in on Ukraine. Biden also spoke³ about the possibility of a minor⁴ incursion and perhaps not a full-blown war. Now, all of this required some explanation afterward⁵ by the White House. But the president has been clear about one thing - he has ruled out sending U.S. forces into Ukraine. For more, we're joined by NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre. Greg, so how did the White House clarify the president's remarks?

GREG MYRE, BYLINE⁶: Right. President Biden's comments did raise some questions about how the U.S. and NATO might respond to a Russian invasion. So shortly after he spoke, the White House put out a statement that said, quote, "if any Russian military forces move across the Ukrainian border, that's a renewed invasion, and it will be met with a swift, severe and united response."

MARTINEZ: Now, let's break that down. What kind of military assistance is the U.S. currently providing to Ukraine?

MYRE: Well, Russia invaded back in 2014, and the U.S. has been providing assistance ever since. A lot of it's small arms, ammunition⁷ and, most prominently, these Javelin⁸ anti-tank weapons. All this runs at a little over $400 million a year of assistance. Britain is sending anti-tank weapons. Turkey has sold armed drones to Ukraine. All this would help the Ukrainians defend against Russian tanks and other armored vehicles, would allow them to harass⁹ the Russians, slow them down, perhaps inflict¹⁰ significant casualties, but it's just not at the level that would be decisive if Russia does send these more than 100,000 troops that it currently has near the border.

MARTINEZ: Has any country offered to send troops to help Ukraine?

MYRE: Well, I spoke about this with Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who's now at Stanford, and he said it's very important that the U.S. be crystal clear on this point.

STEVEN PIFER: You would not see American or NATO forces on the ground, fighting the Russians on Ukraine's behalf. I don't want the Ukrainian government to make a decision based on a miscalculation of how much help they can get from the West.

MYRE: So President Biden has specifically ruled out U.S. troops. We should note the U.S. does have very small contingents¹¹ that rotate through Ukraine to work with their military. Right now, for example, there's more than a hundred members of a Florida National Guard unit known as Task Force Gator. They're currently in Western Ukraine, but they're there to train, not to fight.

MARTINEZ: All right. So if the Ukrainian military is on its own on this, could it withstand a Russian offensive?

MYRE: Probably not. The general view is that if Russia sends in a large force, it could probably take what it wants. But the question is, what does Russia want? Maybe President Vladimir Putin just wants a tighter grip on the eastern part of the country, near Russia's border, to sort of create a buffer¹² zone and bleed Ukraine. Maybe he wants to go all the way to the capital, Kiev, to install a Russia-friendly leadership. Steven Pifer says he doesn't know what Putin will do, but he says the Russian leader does fear a Ukraine aligned¹³ with the West.

PIFER: If you have a Ukraine moving towards the West that fully¹⁴ consolidates¹⁵ democracy and then gets its economic reforms really in place so the economy begins to perform in the way it should, that's a nightmare for the Kremlin.

MYRE: So Ukraine is a long way before it becomes this kind of country. But Putin has been very clear for years that he believes Ukraine should be aligned with Russia and not with the West.

MARTINEZ: That's NPR's Greg Myre. Greg, thanks a lot.

MYRE: My pleasure.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• 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。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

5 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

8 javelin   

n.标枪，投枪

参考例句：

• She achieved a throw of sixty metres in the javelin event.在掷标枪项目中，她掷了60米远。
• The coach taught us how to launch a javelin.教练教我们投标枪。

9 harass   

vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰

参考例句：

• Our mission is to harass the landing of the main Japaness expeditionary force.我们的任务是骚乱日本远征军主力的登陆。
• They received the order to harass the enemy's rear.他们接到骚扰敌人后方的命令。

10 inflict   

vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担

参考例句：

• Don't inflict your ideas on me.不要把你的想法强加于我。
• Don't inflict damage on any person.不要伤害任何人。

11 contingents   

（志趣相投、尤指来自同一地方的）一组与会者( contingent的名词复数 )； 代表团； （军队的）分遣队； 小分队

参考例句：

• We were forced to rely on French contingents. 我们势必被迫依恃法国驻军。
• The internal security forces are composed of contingents and mobile divisions. 内卫部队由各总队和机动师组成。

12 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

13 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

14 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

15 consolidates   

巩固

参考例句：

• We've made a good start, now it's time to consolidate. 我们有了一个良好的开端，现在应该加以巩固。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Yuan Shih-k'ai, a would-be Oriental Bonaparte, now attempted to consolidate his power. 当时，一度可能成为东方波拿巴的袁世凯试图巩固他的权力。 来自英汉非文学 - 新闻报道