2006年VOA标准英语-Bush, Putin Differ Over Israeli Attacks

By Scott Stearns
Strelna, Russia
15 July 2006
 

President George W. Bush, left, starts his bilateral¹ meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, July 15, 2006  
  
President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin say they are both working to stop Middle East violence. But the leaders appear to disagree about the appropriateness of Israel's military response to bombing and kidnapping.

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President Bush continued to focus on how this latest round of violence began, laying the blame clearly with Hezbollah for launching rockets into northern Israel and kidnapping two Israeli soldiers.

"The best way to stop the violence is for Hezbollah to lay down its arms and to stop attacking, and therefore I call upon Syria to exert influence over Hezbollah," said Mr. Bush.

President Bush and President Putin met privately² ahead of the start of a summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations outside St. Petersburg.

Mr. Bush says Islamic militants⁴ started the fighting to disrupt what he says was progress by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to pursue a two-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

"As the vision was progressing, certain terrorist elements began to act to stop the advance of democracy," he said. "The militant³ wing of Hamas made decisions to attack and to capture. Hezbollah has made decision to stop the advance of a two-state solution."

President Bush has continued to back Israel's right to defend itself against such attacks.

While denouncing the violence on both sides, President Putin questioned the appropriateness of Israel's response which has included bombing Beirut's airport and the main road to Syria.

The Russian leader said all bloodshed should stop as soon as possible.

"I agree with the premise⁵ that it is absolutely unacceptable to reach this or that goal, including political goals, through the use of force, through abductions, through carrying out strikes against an independent state from the territory of another state. This is all true, and in this context, we consider Israel's concerns to be justified," said Mr. Putin. "At the same time, we work the assumption that the use of force should be balanced."

President Putin says he and President Bush will take every necessary action to try and find common ground between the combatants to reach a conclusion that not only stops the fighting but also creates an enabling environment for Israel within secure borders.

President Putin had hoped to focus this G8 summit on energy security and fighting infectious disease, but continuing Middle East violence will likely dominate these talks.

1 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。

2 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 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。

5 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。