Turn to current press material. Give short pieces of information on cooperation between Russia and other countries in different fields.

UNIT III

CONFLICTS

1. Active vocabulary: words and word combinations:

1. a stance - позиция

a tough stance – жесткая позиция

an aggressive stance – агрессивная позиция

to stiffen one’s stance – ужесточить позицию

2. to stall – зайти в тупик

stalled negotiations – зашедшие в тупик переговоры

3. to sever ties – порвать отношения

severance of diplomatic relations – разрыв дипломатических отношений

4. a party to a dispute – сторона, участник конфликта

5. a standoff – противостояние, конфликт

6. to be at loggerheads – быть в ссоре, не в ладу с кем-то

7. to handle (tackle) a dispute – заниматься разбором спорного вопроса

to settle (resolve) a dispute peacefully (through negotiations) – разрешить

спорный вопрос мирным путем (путем переговоров)

8. to constrain a conflict – сдерживать конфликт

9. to trigger a conflict – вызывать конфликт

10. to accuse smb. of doing smth. – обвинять кого-либо в чем-либо

11. sanctions (restrictions, an embargo, a ban) – меры воздействия, санкции

to apply restrictions in (trade) – применять, использовать ограничения (в торговле)

to violate embargo – нарушать эмбарго

to extend sanctions – продлить, распространить санкции

the extension of existing sanctions – продление существующих санкций

to back sanctions – поддерживать санкции

to drop (remove, lift, abandon ) sanctions – отменить (снять) ограничения

to impose sanctions – наложить (ввести) санкции

12. a hurdle – препятствие

to remove a hurdle – устранить препятствие

13. a deadlock (stalemate)– тупик

to break the deadlock – преодолеть тупик

14. to make concessions – делать уступки

to concede – уступать

15. to reach a consensus – прийти к согласию

16. to remove obstacles – устранить препятствия

17. to escalate (heighten) tensions – усиливать напряженность

18. to reduce (ease, lower) tensions – уменьшить, снизить напряженность

19. differences – зногласия

to iron out differences – устранять противоречия

to smooth differences – сглаживать противоречия

to resolve (tackle) differences – разрешить разногласия

to overcome differences – преодолевать разногласия

20. to be on the verge of collapse – быть на грани срыва

21. to collapse (to breakdown) – провалиться (о переговорах)

a breakdown – провал

to fail – не удаваться, терпеть неудачу

22. to urge smb. to do smth. – призывать кого-либо сделать что-либо

23. to put strong pressure on – оказывать давление на кого-либо

24. reconciliation – примирение

25. to thaw – теплеть (об отношениях)

a thaw in relations – оттепель в отношениях

26. deadline – крайний срок

2. Translate into Russian using active vocabulary:

1. The clash of interests will come over the CIS countries in Eastern Europe and the Southern Caucasus. In effect, the EU and Russia are competing for economic and political influence in these regions. If that were not enough, they are also divided on the domestic situation in Ukraine, Belarus, and Georgia, and hold deeply opposing views on the best ways of settling the "frozen conflicts" in Transdnestr in Moldova, Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, and Nagorny Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

2. Seeking to force President Robert Mugabe into negotiations with the opposition, the United States formally proposed UN Security Council sanctions on Zimbabwe, including an international arms embargo and punitive measures against the 14 people it deemed most responsible for undermining the presidential election through violence.

3. Though Washington says it prefers a diplomatic resolution to the standoff over Iran's nuclear activity, the U.S. and Israel have not ruled out a military option. Iran insists its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, such as energy production. On Friday, Iran's top Revolutionary Guards commander, Gen. Mohammed Ali Jafari, said Iran would consider any military action against its nuclear facilities as the beginning of a war.

4. And while the governments may be at loggerheads, the business communities of Russia and the U.K. are closely entwined. “Russia still gets foreign direct investment from the U.K. and there's 400,000 Russians living in the U.K., and this is the Russian elite. The U.K. has an interest in them being here because they bring in a lot of money, with all these Russian companies listed on the London Stock Exchange."

5. Today the international community's deadline for the final attempt to hammer out a negotiated solution to the problem of Kosovo's future expired. The international "troika" overseeing talks between Kosovo Albanians, who want independence from Belgrade as soon as possible, and Serbs, who are willing to grant only a greater degree of autonomy, delivered their report on the talks' failure to the U.N. Security Council. The breakdown has raised fears of renewal of violence in the region. But while tensions are indeed rising, there are sound reasons why the worst-case scenarios — including new conflict in the Balkans — probably will not be realized.

6. Amid increasing concern from the United States and the European Union that tensions between Russia and Georgia could escalate into open conflict, the Foreign Minister of Germany is seeking to mediate among all sides, traveling to Georgia and its Russian-backed breakaway region of Abkhazia on Thursday, then to Moscow on Friday. He said Germany's equally close ties with Georgia and Russia offered a chance of at least lowering tensions and getting all sides to talk.

7. The Secretary of State will sign the plan in Prague, but it faces some hurdles. Talks with Poland have stalled over Warsaw's demands for U.S. aid to help modernize its army, and the Czech treaty will face opposition in Parliament.

8. In another sign of a step-by-step thaw in US-Iranian relations, The Secretary of State has softened the US warning against Americans traveling to the Islamic republic, a senior American official said.

9. The US yesterday imposed economic sanctions on Burma, banning new investments by American companies in the military-ruled southeast Asian country. The sanctions allow existing agreements to remain in place. The US is the fourth largest foreign investor in Burma. The White House has been under pressure from Congress to impose the sanctions and called for a ban on new investment.

10. Despite Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change holding its first talks with representatives of President Robert Mugabe's government on Thursday, there's no early end in sight to the country's political stalemate. The meeting in the South African capital, Tshwane (formerly Pretoria) was aimed at pursuing a power-sharing agreement, to resolve the increasingly violent deadlock that has followed the widely discredited June 27 runoff election through which Mugabe claimed reelection following the withdrawal of the MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai amid a torrent of violence against his supporters. The talks reflect mounting international pressure on both sides to achieve a compromise.

11. The most negative assessment of the impasse on missile defense issues came from the Russian Defense Minister, who said, "In principle our positions have not changed."The two sides also failed to reach a deal - but agreed to continue talks - on what sort of pact might set limits on their nuclear arsenals after current treaties expire.

12. Shared values and requirements of globalization will smooth differences between Russia and the West, making them more accommodating in regards to each other as well as in international affairs in general. In dealing with the CIS countries, Moscow will respect more their sovereignty and their desire to diversify foreign relations and will prefer to solve problems in a low-key diplomatic manner rather than resorting to rhetoric and public polemics. Efforts will be made to overcome differences with the West and work closer with it. The Asia-Pacific region will also remain a focus of the Kremlin's attention. Our cooperation with China will intensify while relations with Japan will be moved ahead.

13. The idea voiced by General Baluyevsky at the recent summit is aimed at breaking the CFE deadlock. He suggested that Russia should be allowed to lift restrictions on arms on its flanks - in the north and south of its European part. This would allow it to freely move armed forces and hardware in this territory, and to react promptly to emerging situations. Russia would not increase the strength of its troops under this proposal.

14. Chavez, who just months ago called reconciliation impossible, said the talks were aimed at a "relaunch of cooperation, peace and integration of Latin America." "We have a need to take up the path again and reactivate relations. Now that depends on many things," Chavez said.

15. The President of France, eager to realize his vision for harmony and prosperity around the Mediterranean, has reached out to Syria, a nation often accused of sponsoring terrorism and undermining regional unity.

16. Sarkozy asked Assad for help in easing the international standoff with Iran over its nuclear program. Assad, in turn, asked France to contribute efforts toward a peace deal between Syria and Israel. Sarkozy, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency, also called for reviving efforts toward an EU deal with Syria that stalled in 2005.

17. After a more than three hour session at the Group of 8 summit meeting here, leaders of African countries and industrialized nations could not reach a consensus on how to move forward. President George W. Bush and other Western leaders urged the international community to condemn Mugabe and back strong sanctions against Zimbabwe, but the leaders of the seven African nations who were also in attendance resisted growing pressure to adopt a tougher stance.

18. The Foreign Secretary said today Russia and China's decision to block international sanctions against Zimbabwe was "incomprehensible" and confirmed Britain would continue to fight to end suffering at the hands of Robert Mugabe. A draft resolution, drawn up with the United States, that went before the UN Security Council, called for travel bans on the dictator and 13 other leading members of his regime and a freeze on their overseas assets. It also proposed an arms embargo and the appointment of a special envoy to help with the creation of a new government. But the move was scuppered by Russia and China's veto. Russia's UN ambassador, said the sanctions went beyond its mandate to deal with threats to international peace and security.

19. North Korea rejected a proposal to resume stalled reconciliation talks with South Korea, while Seoul denounced the communist regime Sunday for the shooting death of a tourist that heightened tension between the divided nations.

20. The South Korean government has been battered by weeks of protests against Lee’s decision to lift an import ban on U.S. beef. Last week, a South Korean tourist was shot and killed by the North Korean military at a tourist resort in the North, and Pyongyang scoffed at Lee's offer of dialogue to reverse the deepening chill in inter-Korean relations.

21. The new Russian President met the British Prime Minister for the first time today as the two leaders attempted to thaw relations after a period of diplomatic hostility. Relations between Britain and Russia has been strained over the past two years. At last year's G8 summit Tony Blair is believed to have become embroiled in angry exchanges with Vladimir Putin, Mr Medvedev's predecessor.

3. Translate the following article into Russian using active vocabulary:

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