U.S. war aims shift in Ukraine — and bring additional risks

U.S. war aims shift in Ukraine — and bring additional risks

Transcript¹

In Poland, after a long train trip to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy, Defense² Secretary Lloyd Austin was blunt about U.S. goals in the conflict in Ukraine.

"We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine," he said Monday.

The United States and its allies now believe Ukraine can win the war against Russia. It's a significant change in thinking, bolstered³ by the successes of the Ukrainian military in holding its own and pushing Russia's military back from Kyiv, over the course of two months of combat.

"We believe that we can win — they can win if they have the right equipment, the right support," Austin said.

The U.S. is rushing in long-range artillery⁴, other weapons and ammunition⁵ as the battle shifts to the east and south of Ukraine. Washington has delivered $3.7 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February, according to the State Department. The most recent deliveries include howitzer cannons⁶, which Pentagon officials believe will be useful in the flat terrain⁷ of eastern Ukraine's Donbas region.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who also visited Kyiv last weekend, has repeatedly said the war in Ukraine would be a "strategic defeat" for Russian President Vladimir Putin and will leave Russia weakened.

This marks a shift for the U.S. in its war aims, which originally were to help Ukraine defend itself against a larger, stronger power, and now involve defeating Russia. The shift is aided by massive U.S. arms shipments to the Ukrainian forces. That raises the risk of potentially widening the conflict, analysts⁸ say. It increases the threat of a weakened Russia resorting to the use of nuclear weapons and could further destabilize an already fragile global economy.

"We don't want Russia to be a total basket case, reviving the sort of loose nukes fears of the 1990s and so on, or to become an incorrigible⁹ international spoiler," says Samuel Charap of Rand Corp.

At some point, Ukraine might want the U.S. to ease up on sanctions against Russia if that will help Kyiv reach a negotiated settlement with Moscow.

The sanctions and arms shipments could also provoke a more direct confrontation¹⁰ between Russia and NATO. It is difficult to know where Russia's red line is. "Nobody knows what step ... will send Putin over the edge," Charap says.

Russia says Western military aid convoys¹¹ into Ukraine are "legitimate¹² targets" but has not not managed to slow the shipments.

On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said no one should underestimate the possibility of a nuclear confrontation and that he viewed NATO as being engaged in a proxy¹³ war with Russia by supplying Ukraine with weaponry.

State Department spokesman Ned Price described the statement as "deeply irresponsible" and a "continuation of the Russian government's very clear attempts to distract from its failure in Ukraine."

Eventually, the U.S. and Russia have to start talking again, says Rose Gottemoeller, a former U.S. arms control negotiator who served in the Clinton and Obama administrations. "I do think at some point we are going to have to reopen some discussions with Russia, at least about constraining¹⁴ and controlling nuclear weapons and see where we can go from there, because it's not in our interest to have a great big pariah¹⁵ state with nuclear weapons," she told NPR.

For now, though, the Biden administration wants to help Ukraine defeat Russia.

Gottemoeller, a former deputy secretary general of NATO, says she's betting on "NATO's military industrial complex against the Russian military industrial complex." But she says allies need to be ready for "a big investment of resources and a big investment of time."

The Kremlin has already suffered one big loss, she says. Putin wanted NATO pushed back to its 1997 lines, before the alliance opened its doors to former Soviet¹⁶ bloc¹⁷ countries.

"Instead," she says, "he has a NATO more coherent, more together and more resolved to work together to really defeat this threat to its partner, Ukraine."

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 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。

3 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

4 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

5 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

6 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

9 incorrigible   

adj.难以纠正的，屡教不改的

参考例句：

• Because he was an incorrigible criminal,he was sentenced to life imprisonment.他是一个死不悔改的罪犯，因此被判终生监禁。
• Gamblers are incorrigible optimists.嗜赌的人是死不悔改的乐天派。

10 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

11 convoys   

n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队

参考例句：

• Truck convoys often stop over for lunch here. 车队经常在这里停下来吃午饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A UN official said aid programs will be suspended until there's adequate protection for relief convoys. 一名联合国官员说将会暂停援助项目，直到援助车队能够得到充分的保护为止。 来自辞典例句

12 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。

13 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

14 constraining   

强迫( constrain的现在分词 )； 强使； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• He was constraining his mind not to wander from the task. 他克制着不让思想在工作时开小差。
• The most constraining resource in all of these cases is venture capital. 在所有这些情况下最受限制的资源便是投入资本。

15 pariah   

n.被社会抛弃者

参考例句：

• Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village.不一会儿，汤姆碰上了村里的少年弃儿。
• His landlady had treated him like a dangerous criminal,a pariah.房东太太对待他就像对待危险的罪犯、对待社会弃儿一样。

16 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。

17 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。