美国国家公共电台 NPR How Ukraine's President Wound Up In The Middle Of The Trump Impeachment Inquiry

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Let's learn about the guy who was on the other end of that phone call, the call where President Trump¹ asked for a favor, a favor from the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. If there were ever a person stuck in a place he never wanted to be, it's him. Zelenskiy spoke² about that call in September when he was sitting awkwardly next to Trump at the United Nations.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY: I'm sorry, but I don't want to be involved to democratic open - (foreign language spoken)...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Elections.

ZELENSKIY: ...Elections of USA.

GREENE: The world wanted to finally hear how's Zelenskiy felt about that call and whether he felt pressured.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ZELENSKIY: It was normal. We spoke about many things. And I - so I think, and you already, that nobody pushed me. Yes.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: In other words, no pressure.

GREENE: For Zelenskiy, that moment was about so much more than finding the right words. His country's security depends on its relationship with the United States. And right now, that means Donald Trump. On that visit to New York, Zelenskiy had only been in office for four months, and he was desperate for the validation⁴ of an official White House invitation.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ZELENSKIY: You invited me, but I think - I'm sorry, but I think you forgot to tell me the date.

(LAUGHTER)

ZELENSKIY: But I think in the near future.

TRUMP: They'll tell you the date.

ZELENSKIY: Oh, yes. They know before us.

GREENE: Zelenskiy does often lean on humor. The 41-year-old is a comedian⁵ and an actor who just got into politics. He's 5-foot-7. He has a small frame. He clearly loves being goofy and cracking jokes. Maybe imagine Steve Carell from "The Office" becoming our president.

NATALIYA GUMENYUK: This guy was with everybody's family television for 20 years at least.

GREENE: That's Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk, who grew up watching Zelenskiy on TV.

GUMENYUK: He was quite a funny guy - like, a really great comedian, a super talented actor. And it's true that, till the last year, I would never imagine somebody like that would run.

GREENE: Hard to imagine, yeah, because he's a lifelong entertainer. But here's the weirdest⁶ part. Up until becoming president of Ukraine, he was on TV playing the president of Ukraine.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SERVANT OF THE PEOPLE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, speaking in Russian).

GREENE: His wildly popular show was called "Servant Of The People." Gumenyuk says even though it was comedy, the show made it possible for voters to give Zelenskiy a real shot.

GUMENYUK: Somehow, in the people's minds, I believe that he - people think that he understand the politics because he always made jokes about politics.

GREENE: But think of that Trump phone call. Think about that appearance at the United Nations. Zelenskiy is now really in it.

TOOMAS HENDRIK ILVES: I feel sympathy, empathy. I feel sorry for the guy.

GREENE: That's the voice of Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who was himself the president of another former Soviet⁷ Republic, Estonia, from 2006 to 2016. He says there is no way Zelenskiy could have been prepared for that phone call.

ILVES: I mean, someone who had no real experience in foreign affairs, let alone politics, shortly after winning and taking office is thrust into this huge power play involving the fate of his country, relations with the United States. And I fear he was just overwhelmed, if not out of his depth.

GREENE: You say the fate of his country at stake - do you really feel like it's that serious?

ILVES: Well, if you have the president of the United States to - insofar as we can tell, holding up military assistance when you're in a war, that's pretty serious.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUNSHOTS)

GREENE: That war he's talking about is a conflict with Russia.

(SOUNDBITE OF NEWS MONTAGE)

JACKI LYDEN, BYLINE⁸: In Russia and Ukraine, girding up for war.

JOSH ELLIOTT: ...Concerns that Russia could now be on the verge⁹ of invading Ukraine. The growing tensions...

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: ...Raising fears that Russia wants to go beyond Crimea and invade eastern Ukraine.

GREENE: OK, so let me put this in context. Think about if the U.S. lost Florida to a foreign power. That's essentially¹⁰ what happened when Russia forcibly annexed¹¹ the peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Then let's say after that, separatists supporting that foreign power went to war to try and take over a swath of the larger U.S. Eastern Seaboard. Well, that's essentially what Ukraine is fighting now in its east. Zelenskiy brought up this conflict in his address to the United Nations. That's heard here through an interpreter.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ZELENSKIY: (Speaking through interpreter) More than 13,000 dead, 30,000 wounded, 1 1/2 million people forced to leave their homes. These numbers, they keep growing each year.

GREENE: Zelenskiy added that achieving peace was one of his primary objectives. And this explains why he brought up U.S. military assistance in that phone call with President Trump. He told the American president he was ready for more U.S. military help, including these Javelin¹² missiles that help defend against Russian tanks. President Trump's response - quote, "I would like you to do us a favor, though."

And that seemed like a change. The Trump administration had actually bolstered¹³ aid to Ukraine, delivering lethal¹⁴ aid to its military - a step that President Obama hadn't taken, which is why the idea of that aid being contingent¹⁵ on something really seemed unthinkable. Steven Pifer is a veteran American diplomat¹⁶ who served in the late '90s as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.

STEVEN PIFER: That military assistance was a strong signal of American support for Ukraine. So that's the official policy. And then you have the second policy, which the president seems to have outsourced to Rudy Giuliani.

GREENE: Giuliani is, of course, President Trump's personal attorney, who we now know had been digging for information about the Bidens in Ukraine.

PIFER: And that's part of the whole quid pro¹⁷ quo conversation with the Ukrainians.

GREENE: Well, what kind of position does that put Zelenskiy in if he has two different foreign policies (laughter) coming from the United States?

PIFER: It puts Zelenskiy in a horrible position. So it seems to me that President Zelenskiy is figuring out a path to navigate¹⁸ this without angering President Trump but also without doing stuff that plunges¹⁹ his country into our domestic politics. And to my mind, that's exactly what he needs to be doing. It doesn't help Ukraine in any way to become a football in our 2020 election.

GREENE: All of this has had dramatic ramifications²⁰ in the United States, where only the fourth impeachment²¹ inquiry²² in history is underway. As for Ukraine, journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk says many people there were following the story early, concerned that Zelenskiy might somehow be allowing Ukraine's relationship with the U.S. to unravel²³. But now, she says, many seem to see Zelenskiy as navigating²⁴ an impossible situation as best he can.

GUMENYUK: It didn't make him better (laughter). You know, it didn't serve him for good. But it didn't harm him a lot.

GREENE: In fact, other questions Zelenskiy's facing about some of his business ties could prove to be even more challenging for him. His critics point to connections to an oligarch who owns the TV network that aired Zelenskiy's show and, some suggest, helped him win the presidency²⁵. At the end of the day, there is a lot more that will determine his political future than Donald Trump and a phone call. Some see a chance for Zelenskiy to free Ukraine from its past. They point to his own journey to the presidency that traces back to an industrial, working-class city in Southeast Ukraine.

SVIATOSLAV YURASH: He's the guy that made it. That's his story. He's the guy from the tough neighborhood that made it.

GREENE: That's 23-year-old Sviatoslav Yurash. He worked as a campaign advisor²⁶ to Zelenskiy, and now he's the youngest member of Ukraine's parliament. He sees in Zelenskiy a politician who can relate to Western-leaning people who long to be part of Europe as well as the factory workers and coal miners in the east who speak Russian and have cultural ties to Moscow. Zelenskiy, Yurash says, is the first politician he can remember who's genuinely inspired younger Ukrainians who had lost faith in their long-corrupt political system.

YURASH: We are the generation who have been essentially let down completely by the choices of all the political elites²⁷. My generation's also grew up without the ever-present Soviet Union. We basically are the independent generation that has grew up to expect something else from our country than just to survive, as many of the Soviet past did. And we demand transformation²⁸.

GREENE: And we should say Zelenskiy has time to deliver. He actually began his address at the United Nations in September looking out at all those world leaders and saying, each of you, ladies and gentlemen, had the first speech from this rostrum. Please recall your feelings at that moment. Every one of you, respected and honored today, was once a beginner.

And so, Steve, you can hear, as much as that infamous²⁹ July 25 phone call has put Zelenskiy in a perilous³⁰ position, as much as the saga³¹ involving President Trump has unexpectedly overshadowed his first months in office, I think Zelenskiy wants to remind people as much as he can that he is just getting started.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

David, when you mention the perilous position that he was placed in, does what's happened to him and what he's been through tell you something about Ukraine?

GREENE: I think so. I mean, I keep returning to just how stuck he is between all of these competing forces. I mean, he - as people have told us, he really can't offend President Trump because he has to maintain that all-important relationship between the two countries. He also can't seem like he's doing Trump's political bidding in any way because that risks alienating³² Democrats³³, and he doesn't want to do that if a Democrat³ could be in the White House.

INSKEEP: Sure.

GREENE: And when you read about Ukraine, I mean, this is in many ways its history, at least after Soviet times - I mean, stuck in the middle at the center of this tug³⁴ of war, you know, unable to move really forcefully in any one direction. You know, many want Ukraine to join NATO, join the European Union at some point. But the big risk there is you alienate³⁵ Russia. And Russia is so tied to Ukraine. I mean, the Russian Orthodox Church was founded in Kyiv. And there are a lot of Ukrainians who feel this close kinship with Russia. But you move closer to Moscow, and pro-Europe Ukrainians won't accept that. I mean, they've taken to the streets to fight against them.

I just always remember this op-ed that was written by the ageless U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger. He wrote it a few years ago. He said, the East and the West, they just have to accept the reality that Ukraine will never be an outpost for either side. It's always going to be this bridge. In other words, Kissinger argues that being stuck in the middle is somehow Ukraine's fate. And I think you might say that's Zelenskiy's fate right now.

INSKEEP: Well, David, thanks for your report on what's happening on that bridge. Really appreciate it.

GREENE: You bet.

(SOUNDBITE OF OMER KLEIN'S "SLEEPWALKERS")

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

4 validation   

n.确认

参考例句：

• If the countdown timer ever hits zero, do your validation processing. 处理这种情况的方法是在输入的同时使用递减计时器，每次击键重新计时。如果递减计时器变为零，就开始验证。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Although the validation control is a very widespread idiom, most such controls can be improved. 虽然确认控件是非常广泛的习惯用法，但还有很多有待改进的地方。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

6 weirdest   

怪诞的( weird的最高级 )； 神秘而可怕的； 超然的； 古怪的

参考例句：

• Think of the weirdest, craziest shit you'd like to see chicks do. 想想这最怪异，最疯狂的屁事。你会喜欢看这些鸡巴表演的。
• It's still the weirdest damn sound I ever heard out of a Jersey boy. 这是我所听过新泽西人最为怪异的音调了。

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

10 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

11 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

12 javelin   

n.标枪，投枪

参考例句：

• She achieved a throw of sixty metres in the javelin event.在掷标枪项目中，她掷了60米远。
• The coach taught us how to launch a javelin.教练教我们投标枪。

13 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

14 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

15 contingent   

adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队

参考例句：

• The contingent marched in the direction of the Western Hills.队伍朝西山的方向前进。
• Whether or not we arrive on time is contingent on the weather.我们是否按时到达要视天气情况而定。

16 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。

17 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

18 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

19 plunges   

n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• Even before he plunges into his program, he has his audience in his pocket. 他的节目甚至还没有出场，就已控制住了观众。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 'Monseigneur, he precipitated himself over the hill-side, head first, as a person plunges into the river.' “大人，他头冲下跳下山坡去了，像往河里跳一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

20 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

22 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

23 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

24 navigating   

v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的现在分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃

参考例句：

• These can also be very useful when navigating time-based documents, such as video and audio. 它对于和时间有关的文档非常有用，比如视频和音频文档。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Vehicles slowed to a crawl on city roads, navigating slushy snow. 汽车在市区路上行驶缓慢，穿越泥泞的雪地。 来自互联网

25 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

26 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

27 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。

28 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

29 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

30 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

31 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

32 alienating   

v.使疏远( alienate的现在分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The phenomena of alienation are widespread. Sports are also alienating. 异化现象普遍存在，体育运动也不例外。 来自互联网
• How can you appeal to them without alienating the mainstream crowd? 你是怎么在不疏忽主流玩家的情况下吸引住他们呢？ 来自互联网

33 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

34 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

35 alienate   

vt.使疏远，离间；转让(财产等)

参考例句：

• His attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith.他离间那两个朋友的企图失败了，因为他们彼此完全信任。
• We'd better not alienate ourselves from the colleagues.我们最好还是不要与同事们疏远。