VOA常速英语2008年-Putin and Abbas Meet on Russian Middle East Con

By Colin McCullough
Moscow
19 April 2008

Discussions continued Friday in Moscow on Russia's offer to host a second Middle East peace conference. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was in Russia's capital where he met with several officials, including President Vladimir Putin. From Moscow, Colin McCullough reports for VOA.

President Vladimir Putin returned from visits to Libya and Italy to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday. The two discussed plans for Moscow to host the conference in June.

Russian officials see the conference as a follow-up to the Annapolis, Maryland conference held by the Untied¹ States in November. That conference revived talks between Israel and the Palestinians with the aim of reaching a peace agreement by the end of this year.

At the meeting in Moscow Friday, Mr. Putin acknowledged the tensions between Israel and the Palestinians resulting from rocket attacks on Israel launched from Gaza and the scale of Israel's response.

Mr. Putin said this is a difficult moment in the peace process but that efforts for peace by Mr. Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are welcome.

Mr. Abbas said he believes the Moscow conference will make progress toward a comprehensive peace.

Earlier in his visit to Moscow, Mr. Abbas met with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The two agreed that future mideast negotiations² should involve Lebanon and Syria. That would open the possibility for a peace agreement between Israel and those two Arab countries.

Although Mr. Abbas said he is enthusiastic about a Russia-hosted conference, Israel has not made a commitment and has expressed reluctance³ in the past.

Some analysts⁵ contend that Russia's possible role is unclear as its influence in the region has weakened.

"Russia can be only an intermediary - no more than that. I mean, we can sort of sit at the table and ask both sides to be nice to each other. But if they refuse to be nice to each other, or actually refuse to attend, there's nothing much we can do," said Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent, Moscow-based political analyst⁴.

Mr. Putin has been active on the diplomatic front lately, meeting with three foreign leaders in the past two days.

Before he met with the Palestinian leader, the Russian president traveled to Libya to meet with Moammar Gadhafi and to Sardinia where he met with Silvio Berlusconi, whose coaliton won parliamentary elections in Italy earlier this week.

Mr. Putin's second term as president comes to an end within weeks. But he is expected to become Russia's prime minister under President-elect Dmitry Medvedev.

1 untied   

松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决

参考例句：

• Once untied, we common people are able to conquer nature, too. 只要团结起来，我们老百姓也能移山倒海。
• He untied the ropes. 他解开了绳子。

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

4 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。

5 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。