美国有线新闻 CNN 美国国务卿访问俄罗斯 叙利亚问题成焦点

 

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: First topic today on CNN 10. We're breaking down American and Russian tensions over what's happening in the Middle Eastern country of Syria.

I'm Carl Azuz. It's good to have you watching.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in the Russian capital yesterday. He's meeting with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The main subject: Syria's ongoing¹ civil war. Last week, dozens of Syrians were killed by a chemical weapon, a poisonous gas. The U.S. blames Syria's government for launching the attack and though Syria denied it, American ships later fired missiles at a Syrian air base, the base where the U.S. says the chemical attack was made from.

This was the first time that America targeted a Syrian government position. Previously², it had only gone after ISIS terrorist positions in Syria.

But here's where it gets more complicated — Russia supports the Syrian government and its president, Bashar al-Assad. And the U.S. does not.

So, America is trying to influence Russia to end its support for Syria's leader.

REX TILLERSON, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: We want to create a future for Syria that is stable and secure. And so, Russia can be a part of that future and play an important role. Or Russia can maintain its alliance with this group which we believe is not going to serve Russia's interest longer term.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Faced with new Russian threats, the U.S. military not backing down in the skies over Iraq and Syria. We're on a KC-10 tanker³ plane refueling the fighters pounding ISIS.

Of course, there's some tension since the Russians have announced they don't want to communicate with the U.S. anymore in the skies over Syria. That's why crews like this one take great care when they fly into Syrian air space.

Stopping the communications significantly increases the risk of mid-air collisions over this crowded air space where U.S. coalition⁴ and Russian planes operate very close to one another.

Russia made the move after America hit a Syrian airfield⁵ with cruise missiles last week in response to a chemical attack on a Syrian village killing⁶ around 90 people.

Washington blames the Assad regime, Russia's main ally in the civil war there, even as Syria denies being behind the attack.

But America doesn't want the turmoil⁷ to affect the ongoing effort to destroy ISIS.

Despite the current tensions with Russia, the U.S. says that the fight against ISIS has to continue full steam, especially with American and allied⁸ forces on the ground and in harm's way.

A sentiment echoed by commanders leading the air war against ISIS.

BRIG. GEN. CHARLES CORCORAN, U.S. AIR FORCE: We can't take our eye off the ball. It is — it is ISIS. That's why we're here.

So, you know, our national leadership decided⁹ to do something about a problem that they saw and — and if we're asked to help out with something like that, we're obviously ready to do it. But, right now, ISIS is the game.

PLEITGEN: So far, the U.S. says there have been no incidents involving Russian planes over Iraq and Syria and they hope, despite Russia's rhetoric¹⁰, that it stays that way.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, aboard a KC-10 refueling jet over Iraq and Syria.

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

3 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

5 airfield   

n.飞机场

参考例句：

• The foreign guests were motored from the airfield to the hotel.用车把外宾从机场送到旅馆。
• The airfield was seized by enemy troops.机场被敌军占领。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

8 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

9 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。

10 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。