Did the U.S. push Putin into a corner, forcing him to invade Ukraine?

Did the U.S. push Putin into a corner, forcing him to invade Ukraine?

Transcript¹

NPR's A Martinez talks to Nina Khrushcheva, a professor of international affairs at the New School in New York, about Russia's decision to invade Ukraine.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

News of Russian military action came in a video address from Russian President Vladimir Putin early Thursday. And it came as the U.N. Security Council was once again holding an emergency meeting. And here's what the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.N., Sergiy Kyslytsya, said.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SERGIY KYSLYTSYA: It's too late, my dear colleagues, to speak about de-escalation - too late. The Russian president declared the war on the record.

MARTINEZ: Charles Maynes is in the city of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia near the Ukrainian border, and he joins us now. Charles, so Vladimir Putin announced the attack on Ukraine in a national address. Tell us more about what he said.

CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE²: Yeah, so he went on television just before 6 a.m. here local time. He said, essentially³, what the West had been predicting for weeks, that a Russian military campaign against Ukraine had begun.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: (Speaking Russian).

MAYNES: So here, Putin is saying he ordered a special military operation to protect the people in the Donbas, who he argued were being subjected to genocide by the government in Kyiv. And he went on to say that the additional goal of the mission was demilitarization and eventual⁴ denazification of Ukraine. Now, Putin's reference to Nazis⁶ is part of a wider argument he's made in the past that Ukraine's 2014 revolution, in which protesters overthrew⁷ a Moscow-backed government in favor of a pro-European vision for the country, that that instead brought a fascist⁸ junta⁹ to power intent on cleansing¹⁰ Ukraine of its Russian-speaking population.

Now, you know, there's really no evidence of that. But Putin called on Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their weapons voluntarily and return home rather than fight to protect fascists¹¹ in the government. And that's in Putin's words. And he would claim that Russia had no intention of occupying the country. But Putin's language certainly suggests that he has designs on regime change in Kyiv. And I should add that he also warned outside countries from getting involved. He's suggesting that they would face a ferocious¹² Russian response if they did.

MARTINEZ: You mentioned his call for denazification. Can you explore more on how he rationalized this military action?

MAYNES: Yeah, you know, he seemed to go out of his way to justify¹³ the legal basis for this. He said Russia was coming to the defense¹⁴ of these Donbas statelets that the Kremlin formally recognized earlier this week, and to which Moscow has promised security guarantees. And again, in all this talk of fascists, you know, Putin is drawing comparisons between Nazi⁵ Germany's invasion of the USSR in World War II and NATO's expansion to Russia's borders. You know, he railed at NATO's triumphalism after the Cold War. He accused the U.S. of trying to destroy Russia from within. And he said it was Ukraine's ambitions now to join the NATO alliance that had brought the threat to Russia's doorstep.

MARTINEZ: All right. So clearly, we're in the early hours of this military action, and then there's the fog of war and propaganda. But, Charles, what are you hearing about the Russian side on the military campaign so far?

MAYNES: Yeah, we heard from Russia's Defense Ministry¹⁵ in a statement. They claim to have taken out Ukraine's key military infrastructure¹⁶, including air defense capabilities¹⁷, and they said they targeted military airfields¹⁸ with precision airstrikes. And it's - they've also said that they're not targeting Ukraine's civilian¹⁹ population, although there are certainly reports to the contrary. You know, also online footage seems to show Russian ground forces crossing into Ukraine from all directions, the north from Belarus and the south and annexed²⁰ Crimea and also in the east closer to where I am. So I think put it another way, this is basically the scenario²¹ the U.S. predicted, a Russian invasion force massed around Ukraine in order to move in. And U.S. warnings that Russia always dismissed as hysteria have all proven true.

MARTINEZ: That's NPR's Charles Maynes. Charles, thanks.

MAYNES: Thank you.

MARTINEZ: All right, to understand more about Putin's decision-making, we've called an expert on the Russian president. Nina Khrushcheva is a professor of international affairs at The New School in New York. Professor, first off, what was your reaction to the news this morning?

NINA KHRUSHCHEVA: Well, thank you. First, it was a shock and also shock because I was, unfortunately, the one who was saying that the Biden administration is a bit hysterical²² about Putin's intentions. So that proved me wrong tremendously. So I'm quite embarrassed by that. But on the other hand, I'm thinking that - you know, what I was thinking, that indeed sort of American loud information about the possible invasion must have pushed Putin over the top. Because he must have felt that being so kind of insulted on air continuously that he has this horrible intentions in mind, he had to do something, otherwise he would look like a weakling. So the next step...

MARTINEZ: So you think he was pushed to this is what you're saying.

KHRUSHCHEVA: Well, pushed to this because it was - the way it was presented and the way it appeared, there would be - there was an information war, so he's being accused of military invasion and he was not responding and his military people were saying, well, we're being insulted by the West. Look at this. They're maligning²³ our reputation, so we have to show strength, otherwise we look like weaklings. So then then...

MARTINEZ: Is it almost one of those things, Nina, where it's like, if you're accusing me of this, why don't I just go ahead and do it?

KHRUSHCHEVA: Exactly. If you are accusing me of this - right. If you're basically telling me - don't tell me what I can't or cannot do. So then he recognizes Donetsk and Luhansk, and I thought that that would be as - it can be called a proportional response. Just recognize and say, you know what? Now we have to deal with this reality.

But clearly, that was entirely²⁴ wrong because that actually suggested that there's some rationale and some political thinking on Putin's mind. But it does seem that what is happening now is that he is almost living that Pan-Slavic dream that Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, his former friend and mentor²⁵, suggested, that all three Slavic countries - Belarus, Russia and Ukraine - should be united as one land. And it seems to be...

MARTINEZ: And I want to ask you about that.

KHRUSHCHEVA: ...That that's how Putin wants to be in history.

MARTINEZ: Yeah, and that's exactly what I was going to ask you about because in that orchestrated TV appearance on Monday, Putin gave his version of Russian history going back to Lenin, Stalin and then mentioning how in 1954, your great-grandfather, Nikita Khrushchev, gave Crimea away from Russia and gave it to Ukraine. Putin obviously annexed Crimea in 2014 and now has invaded Ukraine. So how much, Nina, do you think this is about legacy²⁶ for Vladimir Putin, how future Russian leaders may look back on him someday?

KHRUSHCHEVA: I think that's exactly what it is. I mean, it is a madmen reality, and clearly just completely madman. It's like Karl Marx writes the "Kapital" as the philosophical²⁷ work, and then the Russian Revolution decides that - Lenin decides that we're going to put it on Earth rather than on paper. But it is - I think he thinks that all this things that happened right now, the blood, the horror, the shame, would be forgotten and he will be left in history after 50, 100, how many years, as that uniter of the Russian land, as Solzhenitsyn, the great philosopher of Russia, predicted.

MARTINEZ: Righting perceived wrongs, so to speak. Nina Khrushcheva, author and professor of international affairs at The New School. Thank you very much, Nina, for your insights.

MARTINEZ: Thank you.

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 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。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

5 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

6 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

8 fascist   

adj.法西斯主义的；法西斯党的；n.法西斯主义者，法西斯分子

参考例句：

• The strikers were roughed up by the fascist cops.罢工工人遭到法西斯警察的殴打。
• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship.他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。

9 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

10 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

11 fascists   

n.法西斯主义的支持者( fascist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists. 老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

13 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

14 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。

15 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

16 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

17 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

18 airfields   

n.（较小的无建筑的）飞机场( airfield的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For several days traffic fromthe Naples airfields was partially interrupted. 那不勒斯机场的对外交通部分地停顿了数天。 来自辞典例句
• We have achieved a great amount of destruction at airfields and air bases. 我们已把机场和空军基地大加破坏。 来自辞典例句

19 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

20 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

21 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

22 hysterical   

adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的

参考例句：

• He is hysterical at the sight of the photo.他一看到那张照片就异常激动。
• His hysterical laughter made everybody stunned.他那歇斯底里的笑声使所有的人不知所措。

23 maligning   

vt.污蔑，诽谤（malign的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• She was criticized for maligning innocent people. 她由于中伤好人而受到批评。 来自互联网

24 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

25 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

26 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

27 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。