2007年VOA标准英语-Rice Calls Consolidation of Power by Russian Pr

By David Gollust
State Department
10 May 2007

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday the concentration of political power in the Kremlin under Russian President Vladimir Putin is "troubling," though adding that Washington and Moscow are working together well on some major world issues. Rice goes to Moscow next week for talks laying groundwork for next month's G-8 summit in Germany. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

Condoleezza Rice testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, 10 May 2007

The secretary of state is due in Moscow in the middle of next week for two days of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and probably also President Putin, on a bilateral¹ relationship she describes as "complicated."

At a Senate hearing on the Bush administration's $40 billion foreign affairs budget for the coming year, Rice said the two former Cold War adversaries² are cooperating well on some major strategic issues, including efforts to curb³ the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea.

However, she said recent years have been "difficult" in other areas, including what she said is an inability by Moscow to fully⁴ accept the idea of good relations between the United States and newly democratic states of the former Soviet⁵ Union, like Georgia and Ukraine.

Rice said the roll-back of democratic reforms in Russia, and the reconcentration of powers in the Kremlin, is troubling and a matter of concern not only for the United States.

"I think it's fair to say there has been a turning back from some of the reforms that led to the de-centralization of power out of the Kremlin: a strong legislature, a strong free press, an independent judiciary," she said. "And I think everybody around the world, in Europe, in the United States, is very concerned about the internal course that Russia has taken in recent years."

Rice said one of the advantages of the strong personal relationship President Bush has forged with his Russian counterpart is that he can raise such concerns with Mr. Putin and discuss them.

She spoke⁶ shortly after a Thursday morning telephone conversation between the two leaders, who will have a meeting on the sidelines of the three-day G-8 summit opening June 6 at a Baltic resort in northern Germany.

White House and Kremlin spokesmen said the two presidents discussed the Rice Moscow visit and summit preparations as well as a variety of global issues.

Officials here say Rice's agenda in Moscow will cover the "full gamut⁷" of issues, including democracy in Russia, the future status of Kosovo, the situation in Darfur, and Russian objections to U.S. plans to put elements of a missile defense⁸ system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

On another matter, State Department officials say the Russian government has told U.S. diplomats¹⁰ that President Putin was not referring to the United States when he said Wednesday that the world faced new threats like those posed by Hitler's Third Reich.

The Russian leader's mention, at a World War II victory event, of forces operating by Nazi-like "diktat" and "claims of exceptionalism" was widely reported in the news media as a slap against unilateralism in U.S. foreign policy.

However, a senior diplomat⁹ here said the U.S. embassy raised the matter with the Kremlin and was told that no link to the United States was implied or intended, and that U.S. officials "take them at their word."

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 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

3 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 gamut   

n.全音阶，(一领域的)全部知识

参考例句：

• The exhibition runs the whole gamut of artistic styles.这次展览包括了所有艺术风格的作品。
• This poem runs the gamut of emotions from despair to joy.这首诗展现了从绝望到喜悦的感情历程。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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》