美国国家公共电台 NPR--Hostage envoy says the U.S. can bring home two Americans detained in Russia

Hostage envoy¹ says the U.S. can bring home two Americans detained in Russia

Transcript²

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine³ Paul Whelan are among dozens of American citizens who are wrongfully detained or imprisoned⁴ by foreign governments. Russian authorities arrested Gershkovich on March 29 during a reporting trip to the provincial⁶ city of Yekaterinburg and accused him of spying. Wehlan has been jailed since the end of 2018, also on espionage⁷ charges.

"We will bring Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich home," Roger Carstens, the special U.S. envoy for hostage affairs, tells NPR's Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition.

Carstens, who was appointed in 2020 during the Trump⁸ administration, has worked on high-profile cases that include the prisoner swap⁹ that led to the return of WNBA star Brittney Griner. Griner was arrested last year at a Moscow airport and detained for nearly 10 months on drug-related charges.

"In the 26 months of the Biden administration, we've brought back 26 Americans," Carstens says.

As his team attempts to free Americans from detention¹⁰ in countries such as Russia, Iran or Venezuela, Carstens compares the speed and urgency of their work to a hospital emergency room.

"It's pretty much all the hostages, all detainees, all day long," he says. "We have 30 to 40 cases. The second I hang up this call, we're going to go right back into battle."

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

We're not entirely¹¹ sure. My sense is that we've done enough spadework to where we can start putting things in the realm of the possible. But here's something that we've had to tell interested parties pretty much in the three years that I've been in this job, and that is that we can't go into too much detail....in the 26 months of the Biden administration, we've brought back 26 Americans. And we will bring Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich home.

On what makes Paul Whelan's case harder to resolve

The Russians have tried to fashion him into being a spy, which he is not. They hold the key to the cell. The other side always does. And it should be easy, right? You should be able to go up and talk to the other side and come up with the release mechanism¹², as we call it, to generate that release that we're seeking. And yet the other side gets a vote in this.

On whether every release involves a trade or other incentive¹³

We've had a few cases where we've not had to do that. I'd rather not say which countries, but we've had a few countries that instead of having to go through a hardcore negotiation¹⁴ or bargaining scenario¹⁵, they actually came quickly to the fore⁵ and gave us those Americans back. And I have to admit I was a little surprised in some cases to achieve a release under those conditions, conditions that are essentially¹⁶ no conditions. In other countries you might have a sense of what they want. And then you get to the negotiating table and find out that you were absolutely off and that they want something entirely different. So every case is kind of different.

On whether he worries about incentivizing more prisoner taking

Absolutely. Every time we've received a release, we've done so after painstakingly¹⁷ going through the national security risks that come with getting that release. And so is that important to us and understanding that? Absolutely. Do we wrestle¹⁸ with it? A hundred percent. Do we actually do the background math, the spadework to understand what the risks are, for sure. But I think we found a way to make a lot of these things work for us. We're trying to keep doing something right to keep bringing Americans home.

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

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 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

5 fore   

adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部

参考例句：

• Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
• I have the gift of fore knowledge.我能够未卜先知。

6 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

7 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

8 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

9 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

10 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

11 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

12 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

13 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

14 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

15 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

16 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

17 painstakingly   

adv. 费力地 苦心地

参考例句：

• Every aspect of the original has been closely studied and painstakingly reconstructed. 原作的每一细节都经过了仔细研究，费尽苦心才得以重现。
• The cause they contrived so painstakingly also ended in failure. 他们惨淡经营的事业也以失败而告终。

18 wrestle   

vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付

参考例句：

• He taught his little brother how to wrestle.他教他小弟弟如何摔跤。
• We have to wrestle with difficulties.我们必须同困难作斗争。