NEWS-布什与普京关系渐危

Relationship Between Bush and Putin Getting Weaker

 

After their first meeting in 2001, President Bush was convinced Mr. Putin was a man he could trust.

 

President Bush: I looked the man in the eye, I found him very straightforward¹ and trustworthy… I was able to get a sense of his soul.

 

That personal bond grew stronger three months later when the Russian president was the first foreign leader to call Mr. Bush after the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington. Russia quickly became a valuable ally in the war on terrorism.

 

Andrew Kuchins, the Moscow Center Director at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, believes this was the high watermark in the relationship.

 

Andrew Kuchins: We had our peak in cooperation of course in the war on terrorism, the efforts to take out the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001-2002. There was quite extensive intelligence sharing around that. Since then the cooperation has fallen off a bit.

 

In stark² contrast to that early cooperation, there have been a number of sharp disagreements since, most notably³ over Moscow's stand with France and Germany against the U.S. led invasion of Iraq. Moscow and Washington also traded charges of interfering⁴ with the Ukrainian elections.

 

John Hulsman: I think the romance is over.

 

John Hulsman studies European issues at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. He says the authoritarian⁵ steps taken by Mr. Putin, including suppressing the independent media, seizing the Yukos oil company and consolidating⁶ political power, make it unlikely Russia will become a close, permanent ally of the United States.

 

Still, Mr. Bush would like to see the bilateral⁷ relationship mature.

 

President Bush: It is important for Russia and the United States to have the kind of relationship where if we disagree with decisions, we can do so in a friendly and positive way.

 

But achieving that could be a challenge. Earlier this month, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with her Russian counterpart in what was described by some present as a "contentious⁸" meeting. Ms. Rice reportedly told Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Moscow's crackdown on dissent⁹ was making Russian-American relations, in her words, "more difficult."

 

According to Andrew Kuchins, the American delegation¹⁰ was further disappointed by Mr. Lavrov's agenda, which focused on a list of complaints and concerns.

 

Andrew Kuchins: This was especially disappointing because I think for the Bush administration, and for the president in particular, this meeting in Bratislava is pretty important and will set the tone for the U.S. / Russian relationship over the course of the next four years.

 

Neither leader can afford to see this relationship fail. Several foreign policy experts tell VOA a number of positive developments are expected to come out of the summit, including greater cooperation to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and support for Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization. But John Hulsman doesn't expect the partnership¹¹ to live up to its early promise.

 

John Hulsman: It means we're going to have a prickly, difficult partnership. Well worth doing, well worth attempting. But on the other hand I think we have to see this for what it really is.

 

A relationship in which need, not personal devotion, is paramount¹².

 

1 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

2 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

3 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

4 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

5 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

6 consolidating   

v.（使）巩固， （使）加强( consolidate的现在分词 )；（使）合并

参考例句：

• These measures are meant for consolidating the system of basic medical care. 这些举措旨在夯实基层医疗体系，让老百姓看大病不必出远门。 来自互联网
• We are consolidating the Chinese and English versions of our homepage. 我们将为您提供中英文版本一起的主页。 来自互联网

7 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

8 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

9 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

10 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

11 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

12 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。