2007年VOA标准英语-Russia Hints at Security Council Veto of Kosovo

By Peter Fedynsky
Moscow
09 July 2007

Sergei Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says any resolution on independence for Kosovo will fail in the U.N. Security Council, unless it gains the backing of Serbia, a close Kremlin ally. As VOA Moscow Correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports, Russia has a specific interest in opposing an independent Kosovo.

Speaking after a ministerial meeting in Bishkek, the capital of Kirghizstan, the Russian Foreign Minister told reporters that his country's position on Kosovo is well known, and is backed by international law.

Any decision on Kosovo, says Lavrov, is possible only on the basis of agreement between the two sides directly involved in the matter.

Complex historical forces have pitted ethnic¹ Albanians, who became Kosovo's majority in the 20th century, against Serbians, who trace important elements of their past to the province, where they were once the majority.

The United States and its European allies have drafted a resolution to give the two sides four months to reach agreement on Kosovo's status. If they fail to reach agreement, those allies would support Kosovo independence under international supervision².

Foreign Minister Lavrov says no U.N. resolution on the province can pass without the agreement of Serbia, a traditional Russian ally. While he did not openly say Russia would exercise its Security Council veto, he made clear that his country would do exactly that.

Moscow is dealing³ with a number of so-called frozen conflicts, violent intractable disputes involving ethnic minorities in and around Russia.

Vyacheslav Nikonov, the president of the Politika Foundation, a Moscow research organization, says the Kremlin does not want Kosovo to be used by secessionists in a number of areas to violate the interests or territorial⁴ integrity of Russia.

Among these areas, says Nikonov, are Moldova's Transdnistria region, as well as Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh in the Caucasus. The analyst⁵ adds that for residents of all those unrecognized states, Kosovo will obviously become a precedent⁶.

In a related development, the prime minister of Abkhazia, Alexander Ankvab, was slightly injured in an attack on his vehicle as he traveled to the regional capital, Sukhumi. Abkhazia is seeking independence from Georgia, which resents the presence of Russian troops in the area. Moscow says its forces are there strictly⁷ as peacekeepers.

Last week, one of Foreign Minister Lavrov's deputies, Andrei Denisov, told the Interfax News agency that the international community needs to formulate⁸ a legally-binding document on which principle to apply in Kosovo-type conflicts, respect for a country's territorial integrity or the right of a people to self-determination.

U.S. President George Bush and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed Kosovo at their meeting last week in Kennebunkport, Maine. They did not announce any breakthrough.

1 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。

2 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

7 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

8 formulate   

v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述

参考例句：

• He took care to formulate his reply very clearly.他字斟句酌，清楚地做了回答。
• I was impressed by the way he could formulate his ideas.他陈述观点的方式让我印象深刻。