美国国家公共电台 NPR--Ahead of the G-7, Biden confronts Putin's latest geopolitical weapon — food

Ahead of the G-7, Biden confronts Putin's latest geopolitical weapon — food

Transcript¹

President Biden is heading to Europe this weekend, where G-7 leaders are expected to address growing food insecurity — and how Russian President Vladimir Putin is using the crisis as a geopolitical weapon.

As the summer harvest season is picking up in Ukraine, the Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports along the Black Sea is driving fears that tens of millions of people, particularly in Africa, will face severe hunger — even the possibility of famine. Just three Ukrainian-run ports are still operating, and all are along the Danube River.

"What Putin's war has done is not only tried to wipe out the culture of the Ukrainians, decimate people and commit innumerable war crimes," said Biden, speaking about rising food costs in Philadelphia last week, "but he's also prevented the grain — thousands of tons of grain that are locked up in those silos, ready to be exported, but they can't get out through the Black Sea because they'll get blown out of the water."

In an effort to outmaneuver Putin, Biden said he's working on a plan with European allies to build temporary silos on Ukraine's borders, including in Poland, where grain can be stored until it can be safely exported out of the country through the West by rail, where it can then be distributed to Africa, the Middle East and other parts of the world.

But building these silos — while needed to accommodate the summer and fall harvests — is not seen as a lasting² solution.

More than 20 million tons of grain are already trapped in Ukraine.

If exporting via the West is going to be a viable³ alternative to relying on Ukraine's southern ports, larger investments will be needed — especially in Ukrainian and European railway systems, which have different track gauges⁵, says Elena Neroba, a Kyiv-based analyst⁶ with the grain trading firm Maxigrain.

"We need to build a railway with European-type gauge⁴ railway into Ukrainian territory or Ukrainian-type into European territory," Neroba says.

Ukraine and Russia together account for over a quarter of the world's wheat exports.

Russia has denied responsibility for the food shortage and worked to divide international support by blaming the food shortage on Western sanctions.

"So, [Russia is] aware of the political influence that they wield⁷ through this," says Caitlin Welsh, a former top adviser⁸ in the Obama White House. "And I'll say it seems like it's been effective."

Welsh, who now runs the Global Food Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, sees Biden's proposed silos as a positive stopgap to the problem, but says the permanent solution is reopening Ukraine's southern ports.

She likens efforts to get Ukrainian grain out of the country via the railway to U.S. drivers trying to get across America without their cars.

"Imagine in the United States [if] all of a sudden we couldn't use roads and we had to transport everybody by airports and by planes and rails," she says. "We could do it. It would happen, but it would be slow and it would be really costly⁹."

Putin has said he could open a channel to allow more grain exports, but on the condition that some Western sanctions on Russia are lifted.

The United States and its allies have resisted that. The Ukrainians don't like it either. That's because there is no trust.

Ever since Russia last invaded Ukraine in 2014, Ukrainians have learned that any assurances from the Kremlin are worthless, argues Mariia Bogonos, the head of the Center for Food and Land Use Research at the Kyiv School of Economics.

"There is no trust in any kind of papers, signed documents or agreements signed with Russia," she says. "And, especially, there is no trust in such kind of things for the long term."

It's just another reason why — as Ukraine builds its ties with the European Union — it needs to expand its methods of trade, including via the West.

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 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

3 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

4 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

5 gauges   

n.规格( gauge的名词复数 )；厚度；宽度；标准尺寸v.（用仪器）测量( gauge的第三人称单数 )；估计；计量；划分

参考例句：

• A thermometer gauges the temperature. 温度计可测量温度。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fuel gauges dropped swiftly. 燃料表指针迅速下降。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 wield   

vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等)

参考例句：

• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。
• People may wield the power in a democracy.在民主国家里，人民可以行使权力。

8 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

9 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。