美国国家公共电台 NPR--The stakes are high as Blinken sits down with his Russian counterpart

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The stakes are high as Blinken sits down with his Russian counterpart

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Friday with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, hoping another round of diplomacy² will keep Russian troops massed on the border with Ukraine from invading.

DEBBIE ELLIOTT, HOST:

The stakes were high today as Secretary of State Antony Blinken sat down with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. The U.S. and its allies are trying to stave off a Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Blinken says Russia has a choice to make.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ANTONY BLINKEN: It can choose the path of diplomacy that can lead to peace and security or the path that will lead only to conflict, severe consequences and international condemnation³.

ELLIOTT: Blinken also traveled to Ukraine and to Germany this week to make sure U.S. allies are on the same page. NPR's diplomatic correspondent Michele Kelemen has been traveling with him and joins us now. Hi, Michele, what's the big takeaway now? Are there any positive signals coming out of this meeting between Blinken and Lavrov?

MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE⁴: Well, it seems like both sides are ready to continue this dialogue, so that's progress. But there's no real sign of any breakthrough yet and no sign that Russia is willing to pull back the tens of thousands of troops that it has massed along Ukraine's border. Sergey Lavrov said that Russia has no intention to invade Ukraine, though Secretary Blinken didn't seem convinced by that. Blinken has been calling on Russia to de-escalate and take the diplomatic path that the U.S. and Europeans are offering.

ELLIOTT: Now, Russia still insists that NATO guarantee that Ukraine will never be allowed to join. Russia also wants NATO to roll back its presence in Eastern Europe. And the U.S. and its allies have said no way. So is there any room for compromise here?

KELEMEN: Well, certainly not on those big questions. I mean, the U.S. has accused Russia of creating this crisis in order to undermine Ukraine's sovereignty. And Blinken says this is a problem not just for Europe but for the whole world. But he has suggested that there are some things the two sides can talk about - reciprocal steps on missile deployments, increasing transparency in military exercises. That's far short of what Russia has demanded, of course. Sergey Lavrov, on the other hand, said Russia has put concrete ideas on the table and is expecting written responses from the U.S. and NATO next week. And Blinken said those will be forthcoming.

ELLIOTT: Secretary Blinken was in Berlin yesterday talking to allies, and not everyone sees eye to eye on exactly what type of Russian action against Ukraine would trigger sanctions, as President Biden admitted in his news conference this week. So, Michele, when Blinken left Berlin, were the U.S. and Europeans on the same page?

KELEMEN: Well, you know, it's interesting because what Biden said was true, of course, but it made it really tough for the secretary to come here and tell the Russians that the West is united. The word to use today was that there will be calibrated⁵ and coordinated⁶ responses to other actions that fall short of an invasion. You know, Blinken said that Russia has a large playbook of things that it's done in the past to destabilize Ukraine, and the U.S. and its partners will respond to all of that.

ELLIOTT: What about the Ukrainians? How are they feeling after a week of diplomacy on their behalf? Are they assured that the West will come to their defense⁷?

KELEMEN: Well, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was really not happy with Biden's comments this week. He wrote on Twitter that he wants to remind the great powers that there are no minor⁸ incursions. You know, Biden was talking about a minor versus⁹ major incursion. But, you know, the White House has cleaned up on that. And Secretary Blinken says that the U.S. and its partners are committed to defending Ukraine's territorial¹⁰ integrity and have given defensive¹¹ weapons to Ukraine, partly as a deterrence¹² to Russia.

ELLIOTT: That's NPR's diplomatic correspondent Michele Kelemen, traveling with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Geneva today. Thanks so much, Michele.

KELEMEN: Thank you, Debbie.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

3 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

4 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。

5 calibrated   

v.校准( calibrate的过去式和过去分词 )；使标准化；使合标准；测量（枪的）口径

参考例句：

• Power pesticide dusters can be calibrated and used to apply pertilizer. 动力杀虫剂可以调整用来施肥。 来自辞典例句
• The flexible diaphragm is connected to a plat cantilever-calibrated spring. 柔韧的膜片一扁平的悬臂校正弹簧相连。 来自辞典例句

6 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

9 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

10 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。

11 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

12 deterrence   

威慑，制止； 制止物，制止因素； 挽留的事物； 核威慑

参考例句：

• An extreme school of "disarmers" pronounced stable deterrence was a dangerous deception. “裁军论者”中的极端派声称，稳定的威摄是一种危险的骗局。
• 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。