2006年VOA标准英语-Putin Defends Russia's Role in 'Group of E

By Lisa McAdams
Moscow
31 January 2006

Russian President Vladimir Putin disagrees with critics at home and abroad who suggest Russia is rapidly retreating from democratic gains in favor of more authoritarian¹ rule.  The Russian president says the country needs a strong leader, if only to continue what he says are significant political, economic, and social changes. 

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Vladimir Putin  
  

There were no real surprises during President Putin's fifth annual press conference in his six years as president.  But the lengthy² exchange, lasting³ nearly four hours, covered a wide array of topics and gave some measure of the man whom many find very hard to read.

President Putin focused his message on the economy and one of his number-one policy priorities, improving Russian quality of life.  On that score, he says much progress has been made and that Russians can now feel proud of their country as one worthy⁴ of holding its own on the world stage.

In 2005, President Putin says, his government made long steps toward strengthening the economy, increasing Russia's gross domestic product more than six percent.  He says real wages have risen by nearly nine percent, and pensions nearly 13, despite continuing high inflation.

In one of a handful of questions Mr. Putin fielded from Western reporters, he rejected recent characterizations that Russia, under his leadership, is experiencing a rollback in democratic gains.

The Russian leader was asked to square Russia's backing of Uzbekistan leader Islam Karimov, following unrest in Andijan - during which Uzbek troops allegedly massacred innocent civilians⁵, with Russia's stated support of European democratic values. 

President Putin rejected the questioner's basic premise⁶ that the two approaches were incompatible⁷.

"We know what happened in Andijan better than you," Mr. Putin tersely⁸ replied. 

While he acknowledged that Uzbekistan faces numerous problems, he says it does not need "any revolution."  We need evolution, the Russian leader added, saying that would lead to the establishment of democracy.

But some in Europe and the West are beginning to question if Russia knows the real meaning of the word, especially after Russia's parliament pushed through a highly controversial law last December, tightening⁹ control over thousands of independent non-governmental organizations established to promote basic human rights and civil society issues.

During a recent meeting in Moscow with German Chancellor¹⁰ Angela Merkel, President Putin drew public scorn for the move.  And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently suggested the new law could cause some to question Russia's fitness to chair the Group of Eight (G-8) Summit in St. Petersburg later this year. 

But Mr. Putin appears unfazed by the criticism.

He challenges skeptics to keep on saying there is no room for Russia at the G-8 table.  "We know, otherwise", he added.

Mr. Putin also sought to lay to rest any lingering concerns among executives and investors¹¹ that Russia might interfere¹² in the private sector¹³, following the dismantling¹⁴ of Yukos, once Russia's largest private oil company. 

He said as far as LUKOIL, TNK-BP and others are concerned, there are no plans to nationalize them.  He says the companies will develop according to market conditions as private firms, during what President Putin says is a crucial time for the world energy market.

1 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。

2 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

3 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

4 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

7 incompatible   

adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的

参考例句：

• His plan is incompatible with my intent.他的计划与我的意图不相符。
• Speed and safety are not necessarily incompatible.速度和安全未必不相容。

8 tersely   

adv. 简捷地, 简要地

参考例句：

• Nixon proceeded to respond, mercifully more tersely than Brezhnev. 尼克松开始作出回答了。幸运的是，他讲的比勃列日涅夫简练。
• Hafiz Issail tersely informed me that Israel force had broken the young cease-fire. 哈菲兹·伊斯梅尔的来电简洁扼要，他说以色列部队破坏了刚刚生效的停火。

9 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

10 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。

11 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

12 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

13 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

14 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。