VOA常速英语2008年-Bush Backs Georgia's Bid for NATO Membership

By Scott Stearns
White House
19 March 2008

President Bush is backing Georgia's bid to join the NATO alliance. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, Mr. Bush met in the Oval Office with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili ahead of next month's NATO summit in Romania.

President Bush told President Saakashvili that he will go to the NATO summit in Bucharest ready to tell other heads of state that he supports Georgia for NATO membership.

"I believe that NATO benefits with a Georgian membership," he said. "I believe Georgia benefits from being a part of NATO."

Speaking to reporters after their meeting, President Saakashvili thanked the American leader for his support and said the United States and Georgia share a strong diplomatic and military partnership¹.

"I am very proud that Georgian troops in Iraq are not just present there protecting people but are having successes in doing do," he said. "And certainly this is something that we will stay for generations."

The two leaders also discussed conflict in Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Those areas declared independence from the central government in Tbilisi in the early 1990s.

Georgia accuses Russia of backing the separatists and vows² to bring both regions under the control of the central government.

Mr. Bush says he and Mr. Saakashvili discussed how the dispute can be resolved diplomatically.

"We talked about the need for there to be peaceful resolutions of conflicts while recognizing the territorial³ integrity and sovereign borders of Georgia," he said.

Before his visit to Washington, President Saakashvili met with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over Russia's decision last week to lift trade sanctions on Abkhazia.

Moscow says it no longer feels bound by a 1996 agreement to impose economic penalties against separatist regions in former Soviet⁴ states.

Washington says the decision is alarming and could make it easier for Abkhaz separatists to acquire weapons.

1 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。

2 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

3 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

4 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。