VOA常速英语2018--美国呼吁欧洲就乌克兰问题制裁俄罗斯

Russia is accusing Ukrainian sailors of illegally crossing Russian waters and ignoring warnings from border guards, and sentenced them to two months of detention¹.

目前，俄罗斯指控乌克兰水手非法穿越俄罗斯海域，还无视俄罗斯边防战士的警告，所以俄罗斯将这些水手关了2个月的监禁。

The sentence has angered Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko who along with a growing number of European leaders is calling for additional Western sanctions on Russia. In Washington, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert also condemned² Moscow’s actions. It’s a dangerous escalation³ on the part of Russians continued aggressive behavior against Ukraine. The United States continues to support Ukraine’s territorial⁴ integrity. The secretary and the president both have a very strong relationship with the government in Ukraine, President Poroshenko in particular.

这次判决惹火了乌克兰总统佩彼得·波罗申科。后者和越来越多的欧洲领导人呼吁西方对俄罗斯进行另外的制裁。美国国务院发言人希瑟·诺尔特也谴责了俄罗斯政府的行为。这次事件升级，十分危险，只因俄罗斯一直在对乌克兰采取侵犯性的行为。美国依然支持乌克兰的领土主权。国务卿和总统跟乌克兰政府一直保持着固若金汤的关系，尤其是跟总统波罗申科。

Nauert said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is heading to Brussels next week for NATO meetings, and that Ukraine will likely be a big topic of conversation. She called on Europe to do more to assist Kiev. A number of foreign policy experts also blamed Russia for the escalating⁵ tensions.

诺尔特表示，国务卿迈克·蓬佩奥正赶往布鲁塞尔参加下周的北约会议。她还说，乌克兰很有可能成为重要话题。她呼吁欧洲加大力度帮助乌克兰。很多外交政策的专家也谴责俄罗斯让紧张局势升温。

We know that Russia is, is at fault here. We know that they’re still holding Ukrainians essentially⁶ as hostages which is beyond any definition of acceptable behavior by a modern civilized⁷ state. Surotchak said Moscow has been trying to destabilize Ukraine for the past five years. They’re trying to show another example of how Ukraine is unable to protect its borders, and is an illegitimate regime or illegitimate government and it’s just another, as I said, another building block in Moscow’s narrative⁸ that Ukraine, democratic Ukraine, cannot be allowed to survive and prosper⁹. Some experts warned the tensions could spiral out of control. If President Poroshenko knowing he has elections coming up, if he thinks he will be very popular to retaliate¹⁰, then one thing could lead to another and we could have a major war on her hands.

我们都知道这个问题是俄罗斯的问题。我们也知道俄罗斯依然将乌克兰人作为人质，这是任何一个现代文明国度都无法容忍的事情。Surotchak表示，俄罗斯过去5年来一直试图破坏乌克兰的稳定。俄罗斯试图将乌克兰作为另一个例子，证明乌克兰无法保护自己的疆界，是非法政府，按照俄罗斯政府的说辞，他们可以证明乌克兰就算是一个民主的国家，也不准繁荣发展。一些专家警示称，剑拔弩张的局势可能最后会失控。如果波罗申科总统知道选举将近，如果波罗申科总统认为报复俄罗斯有助于自己连任的话，那么就会形成连锁效应。是否发生星球大战，将取决于波罗申科总统。

Coffey said, in the current situation, everyone needs to remember it was Russia that invaded Ukraine in 2014 and it is Russia that occupies Crimea. He called for a strong response from President Donald Trump¹¹.

科菲表示，目前这个形势下，每个人都需要记住：是俄罗斯2014年入侵了乌克兰，是俄罗斯占领了乌克兰国土。科菲呼吁特朗普总统采取强硬的回应。

1 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

2 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

3 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

6 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。

7 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

8 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

9 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

10 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

11 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。