美国国家公共电台 NPR--Ukraine's long-awaited spring counteroffensive against Russia is on hold

Ukraine's long-awaited spring counteroffensive against Russia is on hold

Transcript¹

Ukraine's president says more weapons are needed before a spring counteroffensive begins. NPR's Leila Fadel talks to retired² U.S Army Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges about whether a delay hurts Ukraine's effort.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Ukraine's long-awaited spring counteroffensive against Russia is on hold. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says they're still waiting for more Western weapons to arrive. He spoke³ to the network of the European Broadcasting Union through an interpreter.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Through interpreter) We can advance with what we've got, and I think we can be successful. But we will lose a lot of people. I think that is unacceptable. We need to wait. We need a bit more time.

FADEL: Joining me now is Ben Hodges, the former commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe. He's on the line via Skype.

Welcome.

BEN HODGES: Hey. Thank you, Leila.

FADEL: So what do you make of this delay? Does it hurt the chances of this counterattack being successful?

HODGES: Actually, I would not characterize it as a delay. I think the idea that this was a spring offensive is something that was created by us, you know, the bubble outside of the actual Ukrainian general staff. I don't believe they ever put a specific date or season on it. There's three conditions that they'll have to meet before they tell President Zelenskyy they're ready to go. Number one, are their own forces strong enough, ready enough, trained enough to be successful? The second condition is, are Russian forces degraded enough, disrupted enough for the Ukrainian attack to be successful? And then the third condition, I think, is tied to the ground. Is it dry enough to enable - or support the movement of hundreds of armored vehicles? Those are the three conditions that I think they'll want to meet before they tell the president they're ready to go.

FADEL: You know, there have been, as you mentioned, a lot of expectations around this planned offensive from allies who are funneling⁴ a lot of weaponry - costly⁵ weaponry into the country. And Ukrainian officials were tempering those expectations. Ukraine's defense⁶ minister said to The Washington Post, most people are waiting for something huge, and they may be disappointed. What do you expect from this offensive? What needs to happen?

HODGES: Yeah. Well, I think, first of all, the Ukrainian general staff has impressed me with how skilled and disciplined they are. They do a great job of protecting information. We know more about the Russians than we do about the Ukrainian forces, as it should be. I should not know, as an old retired guy, what their plans are. I actually expect, however, that they will be quite successful. They've been training hard. The West has provided a lot of very good equipment, but also, the Ukrainians have worked hard to build up several armored brigades that will be used to penetrate⁷ these long, linear Russian defenses. That's why the fighting at Bakhmut was so important, because they were able to keep their armored forces out of there and still allow the Russians to bleed themself there. That sort of sacrifice is necessary to ensure a very successful attack when it does start.

FADEL: Well, it sounds like you think a delay is a delay - if it's needed for a more successful operation, then it's needed. But if this counterattack, when it does happen, doesn't end in significant gains with Ukrainians getting back a lot of territory, do the Ukrainians risk losing some of the Western support vis-a-vis weapons and training as Europe and the U.S. assess how much they can continue to give?

HODGES: Well, this is an important point, and I think there will be some concern about that. I was happy to hear that the president yesterday or the day before said, you know, American support is not tied to whether or not this offensive is going to achieve some sort of great success. I mean, that would give light to the reasons that we're doing this to begin with. This is about helping⁸ stop Russia from its aggression⁹, holding them accountable for the terrible war crimes, the violations¹⁰ of sovereignty, violations of international law. So if we're serious about those reasons for doing this - and also, of course, the Chinese are watching to see if we're really serious about this - then I don't think our support is tied directly to whether or not the attack is a smashing success.

FADEL: Ben Hodges is a retired U.S Army lieutenant¹¹ general. He joined us via Skype.

Thank you so much for your time.

HODGES: Thanks for the privilege.

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 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 funneling   

[医]成漏斗形：描述膀胱底及膀胱尿道交接区

参考例句：

5 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。

6 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。

7 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

8 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。

9 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

10 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

11 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。