Russia seems focused for now on capturing parts of eastern Ukraine

Russia seems focused for now on capturing parts of eastern Ukraine

　　Transcript¹

　　NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Andrew Weiss, vice² president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, about Russia's potential tactic³ to partition Ukraine.

　　STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

　　Ukrainians are unwilling⁴ to give up people, land or sovereignty. Ukrainians think these things are exactly what Russia wants. The Kremlin indicated in recent days they're focused on, quote, "liberating⁵ parts of eastern Ukraine." That's a region where Moscow-backed separatists seized land years ago. Let's talk through this with Andrew Weiss, the vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Welcome.

　　ANDREW WEISS: Great to be here.

　　INSKEEP: First, do you believe that Russians have given up on simply seizing the whole country. As they seemed to be trying at the beginning?

　　WEISS: So I think the Russian announcements always need to be taken with a major lump of salt. At the same time, there's a definite concentration of their military activity on the Donbas. And as the Ukrainian military intelligence chief announced on Sunday, there's an attempt to basically create a North Korea-South Korea formal division of the country. So there are elements of truth in what they're saying, but the maximalist goals probably are intact. The question is - it's more about timing⁶. What's achievable over the short term?

　　INSKEEP: When you say maximalist goals are intact - meaning Russia would still like to win the whole country if they could manage it. But for the moment, they're focused on the eastern part of it. What case, if any, could Russia make for eating up the eastern part of Ukraine?

　　WEISS: Well, there's no case to be made. This is a sovereign country. And at the end of the day, the problem for Vladimir Putin is he simply can't accept an independent (unintelligible) on his borders. The immediate⁷ challenge for the Ukrainians is that the Russians, by virtue⁸ of geographical⁹ proximity¹⁰, by virtue of where their military forces are concentrated, have the ability to cut off Ukrainian troops that are operating in the Donbas. And if that happens, if they're encircled, that's a really dangerous predicament for the Ukrainian side.

　　INSKEEP: Yeah, but looking at a map - and you can see the distance between Kyiv, the capital, where they're defending, and, of course, the Donbas, which is far to the east. And the idea is, could the Russians get in between them? Let's talk about the population, though. Is there a significant demographic difference or historical difference between the eastern part of the country and the western part?

　　WEISS: So Ukraine is a mosaic¹¹. And Vladimir Putin has tried to portray¹² that as suggesting that it's not a real country and that it's been cobbled together over various decades. I don't think that's true. What you have seen in Ukraine, though, is a transformative moment, and that transformative moment came in 2014 when Russia invaded the country. And so a lot of those geographical or regional divisions were erased¹³ by virtue of the unifying¹⁴ presence of a Russian invasion.

　　So, yes, there are parts of Ukraine in the eastern section where there's a heavy, sort of post-industrial economy. There's a greater level of Russification that occurred in the Soviet¹⁵ Era. But the majority of the population has looked at what Russia has done since 2014 with total horror. And they're the people who, today, are rejecting Russia's claim that Russia should rule that part of the country.

　　INSKEEP: Are you telling me that if Ukraine ever was not a country, Vladimir Putin has made it a country?

　　WEISS: Absolutely. So by virtue of what Russia did in 2014 by annexing¹⁶ Crimea and then invading parts of the Donbas and occupying them since 2014, Putin basically changed Ukraine's trajectory¹⁷, it changed the outlook of its people and it basically made it impossible for a pro-Russian leadership ever to hold sway in Kyiv. And that's the buzz saw that Vladimir Putin walked into on February 24.

　　INSKEEP: I'm trying to figure out how there can ever be a peace agreement at this point, given that, effectively, there has been a war for about eight years now and Russians are sitting on territory - including Crimea, which they say they've annexed¹⁸ - that they'll never give back. And Ukrainians are saying, we cannot agree to a peace deal that compromises our sovereignty or gives away land.

　　WEISS: Exactly. So the prospect¹⁹ of peace is, I think, a very dim one at this point. There's a horrible humanitarian²⁰ tragedy unfolding across Ukraine, and then there's a remarkable²¹ story of resistance, both from the Ukrainian military and from average people who've taken up arms to defend their country. I don't see any Ukrainian leader being able to sit at a table across from Vladimir Putin, offer up significant chunks²² of their territory, give up parts of their sovereignty, and, as Putin wants, basically give away their ability to defend themselves from such an invasion in the future.

　　INSKEEP: How do you see the future of the war then?

　　WEISS: I think we're going to see the conflict begin to morph and resemble the Bosnian War of the 1990s, but on a much vaster scale. So the people who are listening to your program today should be prepared for this conflict to go on and, unfortunately, for the humanitarian toll²³ and the suffering of civilians²⁴ to go - to continue into the coming months, if not years.

　　INSKEEP: Sorry to hear it, but thanks for the insights, Mr. Weiss.

　　WEISS: Great to be here.

　　INSKEEP: Andrew Weiss is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

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 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

4 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

5 liberating   

解放，释放( liberate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Revolution means liberating the productive forces. 革命就是为了解放生产力。
• They had already taken on their shoulders the burden of reforming society and liberating mankind. 甚至在这些集会聚谈中，他们就已经夸大地把改革社会、解放人群的责任放在自己的肩头了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

6 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

7 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。

8 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

9 geographical   

adj.地理的；地区(性)的

参考例句：

• The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
• These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。

10 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

11 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

12 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

13 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。

15 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。

16 annexing   

并吞( annex的现在分词 )； 兼并； 强占； 并吞（国家、地区等）

参考例句：

• In addition to annexing territory, they exacted huge indemnities. 割地之外，又索去了巨大的赔款。
• He succeeded in annexing all the property of Hindley's and the Linton's. 他成功的占有了亨得利和林顿的所有财产。

17 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

18 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

19 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

20 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。

21 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

22 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

23 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

24 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。