VOA标准英语2008年-US, Russia To Continue Cooperation on Iran, Nor

Senior U.S. and Russian officials say the two powers will continue cooperation on ending the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs despite their bitter disagreement over Russian intervention¹ in Georgia. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in New York Wednesday for their first face-to-face meeting since the Georgia crisis last month. VOA's David Gollust reports from our U.N. bureau.
　
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (right) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York, 24 Sep 2008

Neither side appears to be giving ground on Russia's invasion of Georgia and recognition of two breakaway Georgian regions, which the United States calls a grave mistake.

But U.S. officials describe the Rice-Lavrov meeting at New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel as polite and businesslike and say they agreed to continue working together in multilateral efforts to curb² the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs.

A decision earlier this week initiated³ by Moscow to cancel a New York meeting on Iran by the five permanent U.N. Security Council member countries and Germany, the P5+1, gave rise to speculation⁴ the Georgia dispute has had broad spillover effects on U.S.-Russian relations.

However, briefing reporters after the meeting between Rice and her Russian counterpart, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Daniel Fried said the discussion on Iran was constructive⁵, and that they will continue a two-track strategy of offering Tehran incentives⁶ to stop enriching uranium, and imposing⁷ escalating⁸ sanctions if it refuses.

"They discussed the way ahead and the two-track approach, but also the need to send Iran a very clear signal that the P5+1 process is intact and that the P5+1 stand by all of their work to date. And I think under the circumstances that would be an important signal, and that's what they discussed,"
he said.

Fried said the United States, Russia and the other members of the group will continue discussions on Iran at the political-director level, with the aim of holding a ministerial meeting on a new U.N. sanctions resolutions at some future date.

He said Moscow also committed to making a similar signal of its continuing commitment to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program in light of the Rice-Lavrov meeting.

Mr. Lavrov himself, in an appearance at New York's Council of Foreign Relations gave a similar assessment⁹ of the meeting, saying while the sides differ on Georgia they agree on the need to be pragmatic and work cooperatively on issues of common concern including Iran and North Korea.

"We want to resolve peacefully both situations. We want to de-nuclearize the Korean peninsula, and we want to establish that the Iranian nuclear program is entirely¹⁰ peaceful, through the offices of the IAEA. These goals are unchanged, and it would be just irresponsible if because of some disagreements on the Caucasus, our countries should drop these over-riding goals," he said.

At the same time, Lavrov decried¹¹ what he called the very emotional reaction by western countries and especially the United States to what he described as Russian action to stop Georgian aggression¹² against South Ossetia.

The Russian foreign minister said the intervention was firmly rooted in the right of self-defense as enshrined in the U.N. Charter.

But Assistant Secretary Fried called the invasion and ensuing recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by Russia an attempt to change Georgia's borders by force and a grave mistake on the part of Moscow.

Fried, who took part in the Rice-Lavrov meeting, said they discussed Georgia in a completely professional manner.

He said he came away from the meeting with a somewhat higher degree of confidence that Russia will adhere to its commitment under a French-brokered cease-fire deal and remove checkpoints in Georgia beyond the confines of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

But he said he fears Russia will not abide¹³ by its truce¹⁴ obligation to reduce troop levels in the two disputed regions to those that prevailed before the crisis began August 7. Fried said Russia has publicly declared it will keep much larger forces in the areas, and that this would institutionalize a cease-fire violation¹⁵.

 

1 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

2 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。

3 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

4 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

5 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

6 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

7 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

8 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

9 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 decried   

v.公开反对，谴责( decry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The measures were decried as useless. 这些措施受到指责，说是不起作用。
• The old poet decried the mediocrity of today's writing. 老诗人抨击了现代文体的平庸无奇。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

13 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

14 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

15 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。