Many ex-Soviet republics do not want Russian troops operating in their country

Many ex-Soviet¹ republics do not want Russian troops operating in their country

Transcript²

The focus is Ukraine, but Russian troops have been in five former Soviet republics this year — a reflection of Vladimir Putin's desire to maintain a "sphere of influence" beyond Russia's borders.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The Soviet Union is long gone, but Russian troops are active throughout the former Soviet republics. In fact, Russian soldiers have been operating in five former republics this year. Russian leader Vladimir Putin sees this as a way to maintain influence beyond his country's borders. Many former republics do not share this view. For more, we're joined by NPR's Greg Myre. Hi, Greg.

GREG MYRE, BYLINE³: Hi, Rachel.

MARTIN: So obviously the war in Ukraine is happening, but where else are Russian troops active right now?

MYRE: Yeah, if we start in Ukraine, we don't have to go very far to find more Russian troops. Just a few days ago, some communications towers were blown up in Moldova. Now, this is this tiny country that borders Ukraine to the southwest. Russia's had about 1,500 troops in a separatist region in eastern Moldova for the past 30 years, very much against the will of Moldova's government. We still don't know who's behind these explosions, but they do raise concerns that the war in Ukraine could spill over into Moldova.

MARTIN: I mean, the most significant support for Russia's war in Ukraine when it comes to former Soviet republics is Belarus, right?

MYRE: Yeah, absolutely true. The leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, is very closely tied to Putin. He allowed Russian troops into Belarus, and then they used his country as the launching pad when they invaded Ukraine. So the reasons that we see these troops in these three countries - Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova - vary widely, but there's a common theme. Vladimir Putin claims the West is trying to undermine Russia, and he wants these former Soviet republics, as well as others, to be this protective buffer⁴ for Russia. However, Andrew Weiss, a Russia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says a lot of these countries aren't so keen on the idea.

ANDREW WEISS: Nearly all of the post-Soviet countries have a lot of heartburn about looking to Putin as a benevolent⁵ security guarantor. Left to their own devices, none of these countries really wants to be back under the Kremlin's wing.

MARTIN: So we know Belarus obviously supports the war in Ukraine, but what about the other former Soviet republics?

MYRE: You know, we've seen quite a bit of ambivalence⁶. To just give one example, many abstained⁷ in a U.N. resolution on the war. Now, Putin says that in Ukraine and elsewhere, he's protecting ethnic⁸ Russians who live outside Russia's borders. And that takes us to a fourth country with Russian troops - Georgia, on Russia's southwestern frontier. Now, Putin cited this rationale of safeguarding Russians when he sent troops there in 2008 for a brief, bloody⁹ conflict, and the Russian forces are still there in a conflict that's effectively frozen. Now, we should note that some of these Russian troops in Georgia were sent to help in Ukraine. This is an example of how these conflicts overlap¹⁰.

MARTIN: We've also seen how Putin will use the Russian military to prop¹¹ up regimes that are friendly to him, right? I mean, remind us what he did in Kazakhstan.

MYRE: Yeah. Just back in January, Putin sent Russian troops into the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan. They helped the country's autocratic ruler put down widespread protests. The unrest was stamped out. The Russians left after just a few weeks. You might think a grateful Kazakh leadership would stand with Putin when he then turned around and invaded Ukraine a month later. Here's Andrew Weiss again.

WEISS: The Kazakh authorities are now showing that they don't support what's happening in Ukraine. They're sending humanitarian¹² aid to Ukraine, and they're indicating that they fully¹³ support Ukraine's sovereignty and independence. So if that's what a loyal vassal¹⁴ looks like, it's not exactly what Vladimir Putin was hoping for.

MYRE: So we often hear this talk about Putin wanting to reconstruct the Soviet Union, but this is just another example of how big a challenge that's going to be.

MARTIN: NPR's Greg Myre. Thanks, Greg. We appreciate it.

MYRE: My pleasure.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

5 benevolent   

adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的

参考例句：

• His benevolent nature prevented him from refusing any beggar who accosted him.他乐善好施的本性使他不会拒绝走上前向他行乞的任何一个乞丐。
• He was a benevolent old man and he wouldn't hurt a fly.他是一个仁慈的老人，连只苍蝇都不愿伤害。

6 ambivalence   

n.矛盾心理

参考例句：

• She viewed her daughter's education with ambivalence.她看待女儿的教育问题态度矛盾。
• She felt a certain ambivalence towards him.她对他的态度有些矛盾。

7 abstained   

v.戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的过去式和过去分词 )；弃权（不投票）

参考例句：

• Ten people voted in favour, five against and two abstained. 十人投票赞成，五人反对，两人弃权。
• They collectively abstained (from voting) in the elections for local councilors. 他们在地方议会议员选举中集体弃权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

10 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

11 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

12 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

13 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

14 vassal   

n.附庸的；属下；adj.奴仆的

参考例句：

• Wales was a vassal kingdom at that time.那时威尔士是个附庸国。
• The vassal swore that he would be loyal to the king forever.这位封臣宣誓他将永远忠诚于国王。