美国国家公共电台 NPR Pentagon Letter Undercuts Trump Assertion On Delaying Aid To Ukraine Over Corruption

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

President Trump¹ has repeatedly said that corruption³ was his driving concern about giving Ukraine millions of dollars in military aid.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We are supporting a country. We want to make sure that country is honest. It's very important to talk about corruption. If you don't talk about corruption, why would you give money to a country that you think is corrupt²?

CORNISH: In fact, the White House did hold up hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Ukraine prior to President Trump's July call with the Ukrainian president. However, now NPR has obtained documentation that appears to undercut President Trump's concern about Ukrainian corruption.

Joining me now to talk about this is NPR national security correspondent David Welna. Welcome to the studio.

DAVID WELNA, BYLINE⁴: Hey, Audie.

CORNISH: So what is this document that calls into question Trump's rationale for holding up aid?

WELNA: This is a letter that was sent to four congressional committees in May by the under secretary of defense⁵ for policy, John Rood at the Pentagon. And it's kind of a routine thing. Ukraine is a country that's notorious for its corruption. And so Congress has stipulated⁶ that if there's going to be any military aid sent there, first, there has to be a certification that they have made enough improvement in their efforts to fight corruption to deserve getting that aid. And that letter, which NPR has obtained today, says that Rood tells Congress, I have certified⁸ that the government of Ukraine has taken substantial actions to make defense institutional reforms for the purposes of decreasing corruption and increasing accountability. So he's very clearly saying that while there may still be problems in Ukraine, this is - this country is deserving to get this aid, kind of undercutting what President Trump was saying about corruption in Ukraine.

CORNISH: All right, I want people to keep following this because I understand the Pentagon actually put out a press release - this is in June - announcing that it was providing $250 million in military aid to Ukraine.

WELNA: Yes. This was the following month. And it seemed that the Pentagon had every idea that it was going to go ahead and give Ukraine this aid, that it had no clue that this money was going to be cut off. But suddenly it was by the White House. And this was, of course, as you said, before President Trump called the newly elected president, Zelenskiy. And there are real concerns about why, in fact, he did cut out that aid.

CORNISH: And of course, the president has also given another explanation for holding up that aid for more than two months. What was it?

WELNA: Well, he says that it's out of concern that European nations were not contributing enough to Ukraine in terms of assistance. And that would suggest that the U.S. was using the withholding⁹ of that aid to try to pressure European countries. But I've checked with a number of European embassies here in Washington who tell me that they perceived no effort whatsoever¹⁰ on the part of the U.S. government to force them to increase their contributions. In fact, they pointed¹¹ out that they've actually given nearly as much as the U.S. has in aid to Ukraine. And they say that they really see no sign that this was a concern at the White House.

CORNISH: So undercutting these rationales from the president for withholding aid, how significant is this?

WELNA: Well, you know, President Trump says that he was not looking for a quid pro⁷ quo from President Zelenskiy of Ukraine in asking him to investigate Joe Biden in exchange for releasing this aid. But the explanations he's given for withholding that aid haven't really stood up against this new evidence that's come forward. I'm sure the Congress is going to have many more questions about this as they hold hearings in the weeks to come. But President Trump changed his explanation from concerns about corruption to concerns about contributions already this week. We may hear more.

CORNISH: That's NPR national security correspondent David Welna. Thank you.

WELNA: You're welcome, Audie.

1 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。

2 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

3 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 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。

6 stipulated   

vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的

参考例句：

• A delivery date is stipulated in the contract. 合同中规定了交货日期。
• Yes, I think that's what we stipulated. 对呀，我想那是我们所订定的。 来自辞典例句

7 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

8 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

9 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

10 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。