VOA慢速英语2015 白俄罗斯谈判是否可以结束乌克兰冲突?

Will Talks in Belarus End Fighting in Ukraine? 白俄罗斯谈判是否可以结束乌克兰冲突?

A ceasefire is to take effect Saturday in eastern Ukraine. The ceasefire agreement came this week after all-night talks involving the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany. Yet the leaders admit many details are yet to be worked out. Diplomats¹ add that the agreement left many disputes unresolved.                

乌克兰东部停火协议将于周六生效。本周乌克兰、俄罗斯、法国和德国领导人经过彻夜谈判后出台了这份停火协议。然而这些领导人承认许多细节仍有待敲定。外交官们补充说，该协议还有许多争议尚未解决。         

About 20 people were killed in fierce fighting in the days leading up to the talks in Belarus. The leaders agreed on a truce² between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. During the next two weeks, the opposing sides are to exchange prisoners and withdraw heavy weapons from the battlefield.

白俄罗斯会谈之前的几天，大约20人在激烈的战斗中丧命。这些领导人一致赞同乌克兰军队和亲俄分裂势力在乌克兰东部地区休战。在接下来的两周内，双方将交换囚犯并从战场撤下重武器。

Russia supports the rebels. Russian President Vladimir Putin says the agreement requires them to withdraw to the former ceasefire line. He says Ukrainian forces are to withdraw from the current line, creating a wide, neutral area.

俄罗斯支持反叛分子。俄罗斯总统普京表示，协议要求他们撤回此前的停火线。他说，乌克兰军队将从当前战线撤出，打造一片宽广的中立区域。

Mr. Putin spoke³ to reporters Thursday morning, after the all-night negotiations⁴.

普京在彻夜谈判后的周四上午对记者发表了讲话。

In his words, “It was not the best night of my life, but it has been a good morning because we have managed to reach a major agreement.”      

用他的话来说，“这不是我一生中最美好的夜晚。但它是一个美好的早晨。因为我们已经达成了重大的协议。”           

He said the agreement includes a Ukrainian promise to provide constitutional guarantees of what he called “the rights of the people” in two areas: Donetsk and Luhansk. The rebels have claimed both cities.

他说，协议包括乌克兰承诺在两个地区保障人民的权利，分别是顿涅茨克和卢甘斯克。反叛分子已经宣称夺取了这两个城市。

Ukraine’s new government has offered substantial self-rule for the two regions. But President Petro Poroshenko said the government will not go as far as Russia and the rebels want.

乌克兰新政府已经提出这两个地区实行实质性自治。但乌克兰总统波罗申科表示，政府不会听从俄罗斯和反政府武装的意愿。

The leaders of Germany and France launched this latest effort to end the conflict in Ukraine’s east. They did so in an effort to stop the offensive by the rebels and avoid the possibility of United States arms sales to Ukraine.

德国和法国领导人作出了结束乌克兰东部危机的最新努力。他们这样做是为了制止叛军的进攻，并避免美国向乌克兰出售武器的可能性。

French President Francois Hollande said there is agreement on a political settlement of the nearly one-year-old Ukraine crisis. But he said all the details have yet to be negotiated.

法国总统奥朗德表示，持续了近一年的乌克兰危机终于有了政治解决方法。但他表示，所有细节还有待商榷。

German Chancellor⁵ Angela Merkel sounded less hopeful. She said the ceasefire agreement gives hope for a solution, but leaves a lot of work to do. She described the agreement as better than none at all.

德国总理安格拉·默克尔(Angela Merkel)似乎不那么抱有希望。她说，该停火协议为解决方案带来了希望，但尚有很多工作要做。她称这一协议是聊胜于无。

Reports say the talks nearly broke down when rebel leaders refused to give up gains their forces had made in recent weeks. But Mr. Hollande said President Putin pressed the separatist leaders to agree.

有报道称，当叛军领导人拒绝放弃其部队在最近几周内取得的胜利时，谈判几近破裂。但是奥朗德先生表示，普京总统施压迫使分裂主义领导人同意。

At least 5,300 people have been killed in the Ukrainian conflict. On Friday, Ukraine’s military reported that 11 soldiers were killed in eastern Ukraine over the past 24 hours.

至少已有5300人在乌克兰冲突中遇难。周五，乌克兰的军事报道称，过去24小时有11名士兵在乌克兰东部牺牲。

Yaroslav Voitko is with the International Center for Policy Studies in Kyiv. He says Ukraine is not willing to give the rebels any more territory than they have already captured. The land is said to represent only about a third of what they want.

Yaroslav Voitko就职于基辅国际政策研究中心。他说，乌克兰不愿意向叛军提供他们已经占领的领土以外的更多利益。据说这些土地仅占他们想要的三分之一。

“It’s not about another kilometer of territory. It’s the matter of principle. We will not agree to any further captures of our territories, but some compromise can be reached in the meantime on the ceasefire and stopping hostilities⁶.”

他说，“这不是多一公里领土的问题，而是原则问题。我们不会同意他们进一步占领我们的任何领土，但在停火和停止敌对行动的同时可以达成一些妥协。”

Words in This Story

ceasefire - n. a halt in fighting, usually by agreement

admit - v. to accept; to admit one’s guilt⁷ or responsibility

fierce - adj. extremely strong; strong; angry

former - adj. earlier in time; not new

guarantee(s) – n. a promise that something will happen

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 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

3 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。

4 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。

5 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

6 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。

7 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。