2007年VOA标准英语-President Putin's Remarks About America - Misim

By Peter Fedynsky
Washington
22 February 2007
 
watch Putin Speech report

Recent harsh criticism of the United States by Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised questions about Kremlin intentions and the state of bilateral¹ relations between Washington and Moscow.  Here with details is VOA's Peter Fedynsky.

Speaking in Germany at the recent Munich Conference on Security Policy, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of imposing² its economic, political, cultural and educational policies on other nations. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, 1 Feb 2007

"And, of course, this is extremely dangerous. It leads to a situation in which no one feels safe.  I want to emphasize this -- no one feels safe! Because no one can take shelter behind international law as they would behind a stonewall.  Of course, such a policy stimulates³ an arms race. The predominance of force inevitably⁴ encourages a number of countries to acquire weapons of mass destruction."

In Washington, President Bush said Mr. Putin remains⁵ the same strong-willed person that he was in 2001, when Mr. Bush pronounced his Russian counterpart trustworthy. "He is a person with whom I have had agreements and disagreements throughout the course of my presidency⁶ and his. We've disagreed on the utility of NATO. I've tried to convince Vladimir that NATO is positive. It's a positive influence that democracies on your border are good things to have. The democracies tend not to fight each other."

After his speech, President Putin described Mr. Bush as a decent person and expressed agreement that Russia and America will never be opponents again.

Nonetheless, the Kremlin leader believes NATO is a serious provocation⁷ that is helping⁸ create a virtual division of Europe, similar to the Berlin Wall during the Cold War period. 

Lithuanian President Valdus Adamkus, whose country joined NATO after a half century under Soviet⁹ domination, dismisses Mr. Putin's Munich speech. "I believe this is not going to sway the free people from, I mean, its ideals, the direction we are going together.  And I think the final outcome will be -- this is what we dream about, this is what the American people stand for, for centuries."       

Mr. Bush notes that the United States and Russia have common interests in the security of their peoples and the world. 

But Ariel Cohen, a Russia expert at the Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington, DC, says Mr. Putin is playing on anti-American sentiments in Europe and the Middle East to undermine global security. "And of course that helps for Putin when he goes to the Middle East to sell nuclear reactors¹⁰, to sell weapons; the billions of dollars worth of weaponry that Russia offered to the Arab market was quite noticeable."

Mr. Putin also accused the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OCSE, of meddling¹¹ in the internal affairs of member states.  But the immediate¹² past president of the OSCE parliamentary assembly, U.S. Congressman¹³ Alcee Hastings, says the organization's agreement specifically allows monitoring.  "Let me read:  "Categorically and irrevocably, the countries, the participating states, including Russia and the United States, irrevocably declare that commitments undertaken in the field of the human dimension are matters of direct and legitimate¹⁴ concern to all participating states and do not belong exclusively to, quote, "the internal affairs of the state concerned."

The former U.S. representative to the United Nations, Ambassador John Bolton, says he does not understand the reasons behind President Putin's speech. "Because it does not reflect the real status of the bilateral relationship and many areas of cooperation we have, or the assurances that we have provided over the years about such things as missile defense¹⁵, which are not aimed against Russia, or Russia's nuclear capability¹⁶, but aimed to protect the United States from strikes by rogue¹⁷ countries like Iran or North Korea."

Ambassador Bolton says the Munich speech indicates that the United States has more diplomatic work to do with Russia.  Bolton also expresses hope that President Putin's remarks represent a misimpression about the United States, and not a change in Russian policy.

1 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

2 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

3 stimulates   

v.刺激( stimulate的第三人称单数 )；激励；使兴奋；起兴奋作用，起刺激作用，起促进作用

参考例句：

• Exercise stimulates the body. 运动促进身体健康。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Alcohol stimulates the action of the heart. 酒刺激心脏的活动。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 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。

7 provocation   

n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因

参考例句：

• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation.他是火爆性子，一点就着。
• They did not react to this provocation.他们对这一挑衅未作反应。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 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。

10 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

11 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

12 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

13 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

14 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

15 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。

16 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

17 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。