VOA常速英语2008年-Ukraine Reacts to Perceived Russian Threats

By Peter Fedynsky
Moscow
16 April 2008

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry¹ has protested a series of recent statements by senior Russian officials that appear to threaten the integrity and security of Ukraine.  VOA Moscow Correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports the statements may be unintentionally consolidating² Ukrainian resolve against Russia.

The prospect³ of Ukraine's membership in the NATO defense⁴ alliance prompted a number of senior Russian political, diplomatic and military figures to make statements that have raised eyebrows⁶ not only in Kyiv, but also in the United States.

Among the more recent remarks, a vague threat against Ukraine by the Chief of Russia's General Staff, General Yuri Baluyevsky.

Obviously, says Baluyevsky, Russia will take steps aimed at securing its interests near state borders.  He notes these will not only be military measures, but also measures of a different kind.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview with the Moscow Echo radio station, said Russia would do anything to prevent Ukrainian and Georgian membership in NATO. 

The general and the diplomat⁵ have been vague.  Politicians less so. 

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov urged abrogation⁷ of Russia's Friendship and Cooperation Treaty with Ukraine and to revisit Russia's claim to Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula over the NATO issue. 

In February, President Vladimir Putin, with his visiting Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko at his side in the Kremlin, threatened to aim nuclear missiles at Ukraine if NATO were to deploy⁸ missiles there.  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Mr. Putin's remarks unhelpful and reprehensible⁹.

A Russian political analyst¹⁰ with close Kremlin ties, Vyacheslav Nikonov, told VOA the threats are being taken out of context as part of a campaign in support of Ukrainian NATO membership.

Nikonov urges people to remember what President Putin actually said; that if Americans deploy front-line missile forces on Ukrainian territory, then Russia will retarget its missiles.  Nikonov notes the Russian president did not say retargeting will occur if Ukraine merely joins NATO.

Nonetheless, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry recently issued a protest against high level Russian statements characterized as openly anti-Ukrainian, which question Ukraine's territorial¹¹ integrity and constitute direct interference in its domestic affairs.

An analyst at the National Institute of Strategic Studies in Kyiv, Vasyl Yablonsky, told VOA that high-level Russian threats do not represent the language of democratic European values, but rather a Russian imperial mindset that remains¹² hesitant about the independence of Ukraine.

Yablonsky says even an innocent-sounding term like the near abroad, which Russians use to designate post-Soviet states, speaks volumes, as if those nations were not really abroad and not really nations.  He adds that Moscow issues reminders¹³ that it controls post-Soviet space, where nothing is to be decided¹⁴ without Russia.

The Ukrainian analyst says perceived Russian threats represent a form of psychological pressure aimed at preventing Ukrainian NATO membership, but he says such statements tend to consolidate¹⁵ the Ukrainian nation.  

A recent editorial about Ukraine in Russia's independent newspaper, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, notes that nobody likes the language of threats.  It said it is not difficult to imagine what the citizens of a fraternal country feel if their neighbor openly considers ways to chop off a piece of their state.

A random¹⁶ passerby¹⁷ in Kyiv shared his feelings about the issue with VOA.

This Ukrainian asks how Russia will take Crimea from Ukraine.  It is ours, he says, adding that Russia is doing Ukrainians a favor by saying such things, because they tend to rally us around our lands, and allows us to raise our spirit to protect those lands, which NATO will help us with.
 
Russian analyst Vyacheslav Nikonov says his country will do everything it can to avoid any precipitous actions, because they could threaten Russia's very existence.   By way of example, he says he does not exclude local ethnic¹⁸ hostilities¹⁹ in Crimea, which Washington or Brussels could incorrectly interpret as Russian interference and prompt nuclear retaliation²⁰ against Russia if Ukraine were to be a member of NATO.

He adds that Ukraine produced and continues to service much of Russia's strategic deterrent²¹, which Moscow cannot do without.

For these reasons, says Nikonov, Russia will use all political means to see Ukraine become a sovereign, independent nation that does not belong to any blocs²².

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry protest note strikes a similar tone, saying Ukraine will use all necessary measures permitted by international law to protect its sovereignty and independence.

1 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。

2 consolidating   

v.（使）巩固， （使）加强( consolidate的现在分词 )；（使）合并

参考例句：

• These measures are meant for consolidating the system of basic medical care. 这些举措旨在夯实基层医疗体系，让老百姓看大病不必出远门。 来自互联网
• We are consolidating the Chinese and English versions of our homepage. 我们将为您提供中英文版本一起的主页。 来自互联网

3 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

4 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。

5 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

6 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

7 abrogation   

n.取消，废除

参考例句：

• China regrets the abrogation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. 中国对《反弹道导弹条约》失效感到遗憾。
• Measures for the abrogation shall be stipulated by the State Council. 废除的办法由国务院制定。

8 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

9 reprehensible   

adj.该受责备的

参考例句：

• Lying is not seen as being morally reprehensible in any strong way.人们并不把撒谎当作一件应该大加谴责的事儿。
• It was reprehensible of him to be so disloyal.他如此不忠，应受谴责。

10 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。

11 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。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

16 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

17 passerby   

n.过路人，行人

参考例句：

• We had our photo taken by a passerby.我们请了一个路人为我们照相。
• A passerby heard her screams and rushed to her aid.一个过路人听见她的尖叫，便冲过去帮助她。

18 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。

19 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

20 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 deterrent   

n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的

参考例句：

• Large fines act as a deterrent to motorists.高额罚款是对开车的人的制约。
• I put a net over my strawberries as a deterrent to the birds.我在草莓上罩了网，免得鸟歇上去。

22 blocs   

n.集团，联盟( bloc的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The division of Europe into warring blocs produces ever-increasing centrifugal stress. 把欧洲分为作战集团产生了越来越大的离心效果。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The policy of the two blocs was played out. 把世界分为两个集团的政策已经过时了。 来自辞典例句