2007年VOA标准英语-Russia Promises 'Targeted, Appropriate' Respons

By Peter Fedynsky
Moscow
17 July 2007

Russia says it will have a "targeted and appropriate" response to Britain's expulsion Monday of four Russian diplomats¹. The two countries are at odds² over the British probe into the poisoning death in London of a former KGB officer. But as VOA Correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports from Moscow, both countries appear to be seeking ways to protect average citizens from the damage caused by the standoff.

Political observers in Moscow predict Russia will respond in kind to Monday's decision by London to expel four Russian diplomats. But the Foreign Ministry³ appears in no hurry to announce specific measures.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko reads a statement at the Foreign Ministry's offices, 17 July 2007

Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko says that if Russia acted in the same manner as Britain, more than 80 British diplomats in Moscow would have been expelled. Late Tuesday, Grushko said only that the Russian response will be targeted and adequate.

At the same time, said the Russian official, we will consider average citizens, tourists, cultural and academic exchange participants, and business circles. Grushko says Russia does not want such people to suffer because of actions by London.

A statement in Russian by the British ambassador to Moscow, Anthony Brenton, reflects a similar intention to avoid inconveniencing the public. "We are happy to see Russians in Britain and we continue to issue visas. The stricter measures relate only to visa requests from members of the Russian government," he said.

Relations between London and Moscow soured after Russia refused to extradite Alexander Lugovoi, a Russian citizen accused of murdering Kremlin critic and former KGB intelligence officer, Alexander Litvinenko. Litvinenko was poisoned with highly radioactive polonium. Lugovoi, also an ex-KGB spy, denies the British charge.

Russia's refusal to extradite is based on Article 61 of its Constitution, which says "a citizen of the Russian Federation⁴ may not be deported⁵ from Russia or extradited to another state." However, Article 63 seems to leave room for interpretation⁶. That article states, "The extradition⁷ of people accused of a crime shall be carried out on the basis of federal law or the international agreement of the Russian Federation."

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband expressed concern Monday that Russian law is applied⁸ selectively.

Human rights activists⁹ in Moscow say there have been several instances of Russian citizens being extradited against their will.

One of them is Alisher Usmanov, who was charged with possession of explosives and sent to Uzbekistan, which accused him of religious extremism. Usmanov's defenders¹⁰ say the charges were trumped¹¹ up.

Yelena Rabinina of the Civic¹² Assistance Committee, Grazhdanskoye Sodeystviye, a Russian human-rights organization, has followed the Usmanov case and others like it.

"Russia treats the constitutional in a very selective manner," says Rabinina. "If it is inconvenient¹³, as in the case of Lugovoi, Russian authorities present themselves as defenders of the law, but in a number of other cases they use various tricks to do what they want with the constitution." 

Moscow, accuses Britain of ignoring extradition requests for Russian citizens accused of being embezzlers, terrorists, drug dealers¹⁴ and murderers. Russia has also requested the return of billionaire Boris Berezovsky to face fraud and corruption¹⁵ charges. Berezovksy, a vocal¹⁶ Kremlin critic, was a friend of the murdered Alexander Litvinenko.

1 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

3 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。

4 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

5 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

7 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

8 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

9 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 trumped   

v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去分词 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造

参考例句：

• That woman trumped up various baseless charges against him. 那个女人捏造种种毫无根据的罪名指控他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Several of his colleagues trumped up a complaint to get him removed from the job. 他的几位同事诬告他，使他丟掉了工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

13 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

14 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

15 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

16 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。