2007年VOA标准英语-Rice in Russia for Missile Defense Talks

By Lisa McAdams
Moscow
14 May 2007

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice begins discussions in Moscow later Monday with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, aimed at smoothing over Russian objections and mistrust over Washington's missile defense¹ plans in Europe. Tuesday, Rice is scheduled for discussions with President Vladimir Putin. VOA's Lisa McAdams reports from Moscow.

The major challenge Secretary Rice faces, heading into talks at the Kremlin, is Russia's still simmering anger at American plans to deploy² an anti-missile defense shield in Poland, the Czech Republic and a third - as yet unnamed - nation in the Caucasus.

Washington says the system is needed to guard Europe, including Russia, against potential threats from so-called rogue³ states like Iran and North Korea.

Talks on the issue, late last week, between Russian and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) negotiators in Brussels failed to narrow the gap of disagreement. The chief of Russia's armed forces, General Yury Baluyevsky, says Russia wants assurances the planned U.S. deployment⁴ will not later be expanded further into Central and Eastern Europe. He also says the plans signal the start of a new arms race.

The director of the Heritage Foundation in Moscow, Yevgeni Volk, predicts Rice will encounter pretty much the same message during her talks this week in Russia.

"The Russian side does not believe American statements that these ballistic missile facilities will not be directed against Russia, but are a safeguard against rogue nations which seek nuclear weapons and missile technology to attack the United States and their allies," he said. "So, I believe both sides can hardly find common ground, because the perceptions of ballistic missiles in Europe are quite different."

Volk says Europeans view the missiles as being part of an offensive, rather than defensive⁵, arsenal⁶. As such, he predicts the Russian leadership's comments on the matter will remain - as he says - bellicose⁷.

Another difficult point of discussion awaiting Ms. Rice is Moscow's opposition⁸ to a draft resolution before the United Nations Security Council in New York, providing for supervised independence for Kosovo.

Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has said Russian diplomats⁹ will not touch (determine a position on) the draft, until Rice's visit to Moscow is finished. Volk says, unless Rice and her Russian counterparts make some progress on this issue, he believes a Russian veto at the Security Council will be inevitable¹⁰.

"If Kosovo becomes independent, it will mean a serious defeat for Russian diplomacy¹¹, for Russian foreign policy, and indeed it could be interpreted widely as, once again, a weakness of Russia in international relations, which the Kremlin elite¹² cannot admit," Volk said.

Secretary Rice's trip is her first extended visit with Russian leaders since President Putin shocked the West with a harsh critique of American policies in a February speech in Munich. During the speech, Mr. Putin accused the United States of making the world a more dangerous place.

In the days leading up to her visit, Rice delivered strong criticism, in kind. She told a Senate committee Washington remains¹³ wary¹⁴ of Putin's leadership. She says that unease is shared by others around the world, including leaders in Europe, who are concerned about the internal course Russia has taken under President Putin.

Rice says democratic rollbacks, or losses, of previous gains made in Russia's legislature, free media and independent judiciary are of particular concern. She says the concentration of power in the Kremlin is - as she puts it - "troubling."

1 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。

2 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

3 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

4 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。

5 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

6 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

7 bellicose   

adj.好战的；好争吵的

参考例句：

• He expressed alarm about the government's increasingly bellicose statements.他对政府越来越具挑衅性的声明表示担忧。
• Some irresponsible politicians made a bellicose remarks.一些不负责任的政客说出一些好战的话语。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 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》

10 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

11 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。

12 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。