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Ukraine Seeks NATO’s Help in Dispute with Russia

Ukraine is asking the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, for help after Russia seized three Ukrainian naval¹ ships and their crews.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko urged NATO countries to send naval ships to the Sea of Azov. His comments were reported in the German newspaper Bild.

Poroshenko said Ukraine’s NATO allies were needed “to provide security” after Russian forces seized the ships and their crews on Sunday. He told the newspaper the seizures² showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants nothing less than to occupy the sea.”

The Ukrainian government has said Russia is blocking shipping³ activity to and from Ukrainian ports near the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait. The Kerch Strait connects the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea.

Russia denies it is restricting shipping in the area. It has said the Ukrainians were violating Russian waters and that Ukraine did not inform Russian officials of its naval movements. Ukraine denies this.

Poroshenko said sending NATO ships would send a clear message to Putin. “The only language he understands is the unity⁴ of the Western world,” he said.

Earlier this week, NATO released a statement condemning⁵ Russia’s “use of military force against Ukraine.” The alliance called on Russia to provide unrestricted access to Ukrainian ports and permit “freedom of navigation.”

The United States and other countries have also criticized the Russian actions in the Kerch Strait. On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump⁶ announced that he was canceling planned talks with Putin over the issue. The two leaders were to meet at the G-20 summit in Argentina this weekend.

On Twitter, Trump said that his decision was "based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia." He added that he looks forward to a future meeting with Putin "as soon as this situation is resolved.”

German Chancellor⁷ Angela Merkel said she does plan to meet with Putin at the G-20 meetings. She said she will urge him to order the release of the Ukrainians and their ships.

Following the Russian seizures, Poroshenko declared martial⁸ law in parts of Ukraine. Putin has accused the Ukrainian president of provoking the naval incident and using it so that he could declare martial law. He said he thinks Poroshenko took the action to build up his popularity before planned presidential elections in March.

The shipping incident is the latest dispute between the two countries since Russian forces took the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. At the time, the Russian government said Crimea’s ethnic⁹ Russian majority was under threat. Pro-Russian forces have also been fighting Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine, although tensions have recently eased.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

navigation – n. the movement of ships

access – n. permission or ability to enter

martial – adj. related to war or soldiers

provoke – v. to cause a strong and usually angry reaction

1 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

2 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句

3 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

4 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。

5 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 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。

8 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

9 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。