美国国家公共电台 NPR--Since Russia invaded Ukraine, allies levied more than 11,000 sanctions on Russia

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, allies levied¹ more than 11,000 sanctions on Russia

Transcript²

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Rachel Ziemba of the Center for a New American Security about sanctions which have failed to dramatically weaken Russia's economy, and its ability to finance the war.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Since Russia invaded Ukraine over a year ago, the U.S. and other allies have imposed more than 11,000 sanctions on Russia. That makes Russia the most sanctioned country in the world. They're intended to weaken the Kremlin's ability to finance the war. But with no peace in sight, the effectiveness of all those sanctions remains³ in doubt. Rachel Ziemba is an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, where she studies economics and security. Good morning, Rachel.

RACHEL ZIEMBA: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

FADEL: So we're now in the second year of this war. Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, shows no signs of backing off. Are sanctions working?

ZIEMBA: So sanctions are having an economic effect.

FADEL: OK.

ZIEMBA: They are increasing costs for Russia but were never really going to be a silver bullet to, on their own, bring the war to an end. And that's the situation we find ourselves in right now, that they are part of a package, along with military support and the situation on the ground. And that's going to be, I think, a difficult message for U.S. and allies to keep delivering.

FADEL: Now, we're in the second year, and like I said, it doesn't feel like Putin has shown any signs of backing off, despite the combined efforts, the military aid and these sanctions. Is there - are there lessons learned? Is there something the U.S. and allies are going to do differently in the year ahead?

ZIEMBA: Yes. I think there are a lot of lessons learned and maybe some lessons relearned - right? - that a large country like Russia that supplies natural resources that the - that sort of are important to the world is harder to sanction. They're harder to sanction when countries like China, but also Turkey and the UAE and India, want to buy some of those resources. And it's also challenging if we're not ready - if the sanctioning coalition⁴ wasn't ready to put some pain at home on the line.

One of the major things that the sanctioning coalition just started to do a couple of months ago was to actually target energy in a meaningful way. So that's current energy production. So we are seeing some impact of the European embargo⁵ and the associated price gap. I think we're also going to start seeing more measures that target intermediary countries that try to limit Russia's ability to buy the items it needs to rebuild and restock its military. But that enforcement phase isn't easy, even for a country with good intelligence and the like, as the U.S. does.

And so I think we're going to see both more sanctions, but we'll also continue to see some degree of Russian survival through this. And so I fear the - my baseline is a continued not only sort of war, but economic - a sort of attrition of more enforcement, cracking down, a bit of a game of whack-a-mole. But I do think that there is more commitment, and that's going to be something - I think the question mark will also come down to how countries like China respond in this environment.

FADEL: How much is China responsible for propping⁶ up Russia's economy, in the few seconds we have left?

ZIEMBA: Sure. So it's - so China is the biggest supplier of items to Russia. I haven't yet seen evidence that they are directly providing lethal⁷ support, but they are providing semiconductors⁸ and other chips. And that is something - you know, they're not cutting them off. And that is part and parcel of what is helping⁹ keep Russia engaged.

FADEL: Rachel Ziemba with the Center for a New American Security. Thank you so much.

ZIEMBA: Thank you.

1 levied   

征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税

参考例句：

• Taxes should be levied more on the rich than on the poor. 向富人征收的税应该比穷人的多。
• Heavy fines were levied on motoring offenders. 违规驾车者会遭到重罚。

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 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。

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

5 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

6 propping   

支撑

参考例句：

• You can usually find Jack propping up the bar at his local. 你常常可以看见杰克频繁出没于他居住的那家酒店。
• The government was accused of propping up declining industries. 政府被指责支持日益衰败的产业。

7 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

8 semiconductors   

n.半导体( semiconductor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Crystals may be insulators, semiconductors, or conductors. 晶体可以是绝缘体，半导体，或导体。 来自辞典例句
• Semiconductors containing such impurities are called p-type semiconductors. 含有这类杂质的半导体叫做P型半导体。 来自辞典例句

9 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。