Germany baffles some allies with its refusal to supply weapons to Ukraine

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Germany baffles some allies with its refusal to supply weapons to Ukraine

Transcript¹

NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with Constanze Stelzenmüller of the Brookings Institution about Germany's refusal to provide Ukraine with weapons for its self-defense².

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The United States says a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be, quote, "imminent³." And while most NATO members are showing a unified⁴ front against Russia, Germany has staked out its own position - one that has baffled some allies. Germany has not joined NATO countries in sending defensive⁵ weapons to Ukraine or other military support around the region. Is it because of Germany's big energy pipeline⁶ deal with Russia?

Constanze Stelzenmuller is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and an expert on German foreign policy. She joins us this morning. Thanks for being here.

CONSTANZE STELZENMULLER: Hi. Well, thank you very much for having me on.

MARTIN: Denmark, Spain, France, the Netherlands are just some of the NATO countries that have sent military aid into Eastern Europe to fend⁷ off the Russian threat to Ukraine. Why not Germany?

STELZENMULLER: So I think one point to make that's important - it's not all of NATO that's sending weapons. It's individual NATO nations - some more, some less. In the German case, the new German government, composed of three center-left parties, actually have it in their coalition⁸ agreement not to send weapons into crisis zones. And why is that? Germany is one of the biggest arms exporters in the world - I think the third or fourth largest. And it sends - it sells weapons to some pretty unsavory regimes. And the dirty secret of German security policy, if you will, is that that helps keeps unit prices for armaments down for the German armed forces.

That's something the German public has never liked, which is why the German parties have been - or the German authorities of the center-left have been working for a long time to get this kind of prohibition⁹ in place. So they would be counteracting¹⁰ their own coalition agreement. Now, the problem with that, I think, is that I think there is a lack of nuance¹¹ here, which is that this is not just any crisis, though. And this is an...

MARTIN: Right.

STELZENMULLER: ...Admittedly flawed democracy being threatened by an authoritarian-grade power. The tensions are already there. And by sending armaments to Ukraine, I think that we would not be creating tensions or adding to them; we would - helping¹² the Ukrainians defend themselves. So I'm critical of that policy. But I expect it to develop, actually.

MARTIN: I want to talk about this pipeline project.

STELZENMULLER: Sure.

MARTIN: This is the Nord Stream 2. And this is a huge...

STELZENMULLER: Who doesn't? (Laughter).

MARTIN: ...Energy project that would allow gas coming from Russia to Germany to bypass the antiquated¹³ pipeline that goes through Ukraine. So it's big money for Russia. It gives Germany a more stable energy source. Officials in both Russia and Germany say, hey, we should ignore this right now. This is not geopolitical. Let's just say it's all about business. But it can't be separated, can it?

STELZENMULLER: No, of course not. And again, let me parse¹⁴ the word officials, if you don't mind. The only actual official in government who said that was the defense minister, who was the previous government's justice minister. And I think I'm not being rude to her if I say she has no experience in defense and security policy. She has also walked back that remark. There have been a lot of other people who are not actually in decision-making power who've said this kind of thing. But again, they're muddying the waters.

The key thing to understand, I think, is that the chancellor¹⁵ himself, Olaf Scholz, has put Nord Stream 2 on the line explicitly¹⁶. It took him a long time. He was hemming¹⁷ and hawing. Could he have said it more clearly? Absolutely. But he has put it on the line as part of the potential sanctions toolbox that will be put in place by the Western alliance if the Russians really attack Ukraine.

The problem, if I may, with sanctions is something different, which is that there is, I think, legitimate¹⁸ disagreement to be had in case the Russians do anything that's underneath¹⁹ the level of an outright²⁰ invasion, the kind of probing and prodding²¹ over - probing over weaknesses that they've been doing so far in very different places, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea to outer space. Remember, they shot down that satellite that said - that had the people on the ISS scrambling²² for safety. That's a legitimate debate to be had. But I think, on the whole, unity²³ on sanctions has been much greater than disunity.

MARTIN: Much more to talk about - we'd love to have you on again. Brookings Institution senior fellow Constanze Stelzenmuller - we appreciate your time and context this morning. Thank you.

STELZENMULLER: It's been my pleasure - any time.

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 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

4 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

5 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

6 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

7 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

9 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

10 counteracting   

对抗，抵消( counteract的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The turmoil, he said, was "counteracting the course of global civilization. " 这次骚乱，他指出，“阻碍了世界文明的进程”。
• But he notes that there are counteracting forces as well. 但是他也指出还有一些抵消因素。

11 nuance   

n.(意义、意见、颜色)细微差别

参考例句：

• These users will easily learn each nuance of the applications they use.这些用户会很快了解他们所使用程序的每一细微差别。
• I wish I hadn't become so conscious of every little nuance.我希望我不要变得这样去思索一切琐碎之事。

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

13 antiquated   

adj.陈旧的，过时的

参考例句：

• Many factories are so antiquated they are not worth saving.很多工厂过于陈旧落后，已不值得挽救。
• A train of antiquated coaches was waiting for us at the siding.一列陈旧的火车在侧线上等着我们。

14 parse   

v.从语法上分析；n.从语法上分析

参考例句：

• I simply couldn't parse what you just said.我完全无法对你刚说的话作语法分析。
• It causes the parser to parse an NP.它调用分析程序分析一个名词短语。

15 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

16 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

17 hemming   

卷边

参考例句：

• "Now stop hemming and hawing, and tell me about it, Edward. "别再这个那个的啦，跟我说说吧，爱德华。 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡
• All ideas of stopping holes and hemming in the German intruders are vicious. 一切想要堵塞缺口和围困德国侵略军的办法都是错误的。

18 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

19 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

20 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

21 prodding   

v.刺，戳( prod的现在分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳

参考例句：

• He needed no prodding. 他不用督促。
• The boy is prodding the animal with a needle. 那男孩正用一根针刺那动物。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

22 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• 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。