VOA新闻杂志--外交官试图缓和乌克兰紧张局势，俄罗斯举行军事演习

Diplomats² Try to Reduce Ukraine Tensions, Russia Holds Military Exercises

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the Ukraine crisis could be the "most dangerous moment" for Europe in many years.

Johnson made the comment Thursday in Moscow as the top diplomats from Britain and Russia held talks about the tension along the Russia-Ukraine border.

Russian forces held military exercises north of Ukraine in Belarus and the Black Sea. The exercises are part of Russia's deployment³ of over 100,000 troops that has made the West fear an invasion.

Ukraine also held military exercises at the same time. But leaders on all sides say they hoped diplomacy⁴ can still succeed.

In the latest round of diplomacy, Britain's foreign minister debated publicly with Russia's top diplomat¹ at talks in Moscow. Johnson also visited NATO headquarters in Brussels. And officials from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France were set to meet in Berlin to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Russia says it has no plans to invade but wants the West to keep Ukraine out of the NATO alliance. It also wants NATO to stop sending weapons there and remove NATO forces from Eastern Europe. The U.S. and NATO reject the demands.

"I honestly don't think a decision has yet been taken" by Moscow on whether to attack, Johnson said in a news conference with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels. "But that doesn't mean that it is impossible that something absolutely disastrous⁵ could happen very soon...."

A conversation between ‘deaf and dumb'

Talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss appear to have gone poorly.

Truss restated a call for Russia to pull back its troops. Lavrov rejected the demand and pointed⁶ to British and NATO military buildups in Eastern Europe. He rejected the show of concern by the West about the Russian troop buildup as "propaganda."

Afterwards, Lavrov described the meeting as a "conversation between deaf and dumb." He said Western politicians were using tensions over Ukraine for political gain at home. Russia has always planned to move back the troops, Lavrov said. And once it does, "the West will ... claim that it has forced Russia to de-escalate⁷."

Russia's buildup includes sending troops to its ally Belarus for joint⁸ exercises. The Ukrainian capital is about 75 kilometers south of the border with Belarus.

Ukraine on Thursday also criticized Russian naval⁹ exercises in the Black and Azov seas, saying they have interfered¹⁰ with private shipping¹¹. Russian answered that the exercises do not violate international law.

As the West warns of an invasion, Ukrainian officials have tried to project calm. There are concerns that fear over war will further damage the country's weak economy.

"We believe that the concentration of troops near the border is part of psychological pressure from our neighbor," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Russia and Ukraine have been in a conflict since 2014. At that time a popular uprising ousted¹² Ukraine's Russia-friendly leader from office. Moscow responded by annexing¹⁴ Crimea and then backing rebel militants¹⁵ in eastern Ukraine. The fighting has killed over 14,000 people.

A 2015 peace deal with help from France and Germany helped end much of the fighting. But smaller disputes have continued, and efforts to negotiate a political settlement have slowed.

Foreign policy advisers¹⁶ from Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine are holding more talks Thursday in Berlin. They are trying to reach a common interpretation¹⁷ of the 2015 agreement and plan further steps.

The talks are part of new diplomatic efforts to resolve the biggest security crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met Lavrov in Geneva, while French President Emmanuel Macron met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow before heading to Kyiv this week.

German Chancellor¹⁸ Olaf Scholz plans to visit to Kyiv and Moscow early next week. He met Monday with American President Joe Biden. Biden promised that the Nord Stream 2 Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline¹⁹ would be blocked in the event of an invasion.

Words in This Story

absolutely— adv. completely or totally

escalate — v. to become worse or to make worse or more severe

psychological — adj. of or relating to the mind

annex¹³ –v. to take control of a territory or place

interpret — v. to explain the meaning of

1 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

2 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

4 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

5 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

6 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。

7 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

10 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

12 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

13 annex   

vt.兼并，吞并；n.附属建筑物

参考例句：

• It plans to annex an England company in order to enlarge the market.它计划兼并一家英国公司以扩大市场。
• The annex has been built on to the main building.主楼配建有附属的建筑物。

14 annexing   

并吞( annex的现在分词 )； 兼并； 强占； 并吞（国家、地区等）

参考例句：

• In addition to annexing territory, they exacted huge indemnities. 割地之外，又索去了巨大的赔款。
• He succeeded in annexing all the property of Hindley's and the Linton's. 他成功的占有了亨得利和林顿的所有财产。

15 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

16 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

17 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

18 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

19 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。