VOA标准英语2014--Ukraine Receives Additional Aid As Tensions Rise

（单词翻译）

Ukraine Receives Additional Aid As Tensions Rise

WASHINGTON — Tensions are rising in Ukraine even as assurances of international aid to stabilize¹ the country’s battered² economy have started pouring in. Despite the promise of financial help, the ongoing³ conflict between Ukraine and Russia has only deepened the economic slump⁴ in both countries. Investors⁵ say the economic uncertainty⁶ extends beyond Russia and Ukraine’s borders.

Near Ukraine's eastern border, pro-Russian separatists barricade⁷ a bridge, while just 60 kilometers south, Russian supporters storm another government building.

Overhead, choppers carrying Ukrainian special forces keep watch, wary⁸ that any action could tip the conflict into a dangerous new phase.

The threat of civil war in Ukraine is enough to give investors heartburn.  

“Believing is not the same as knowing, but I am afraid the situation is going to get worse and that we will have to put up with very cautious markets for the next couple of weeks at least,” said Fidel Helmer, a market strategist for Hauck and Aufhaeuser bank.

Tensions in Ukraine have overshadowed generally positive earnings⁹ reports  - creating volatility¹⁰ in global markets from Asia to the United States.

But amid the geo-political uncertainty, strategist Stephen Wood at Russell Investments said, financial markets have shown remarkable¹¹ restraint.

“Given all the information that’s been priced in: the earnings cycle, the revenue cycle, what’s happening in Ukraine, emerging markets, potential issues coming out of Washington, so given all that volatility… markets are kind of flat-ish year to date, which speaks to me of being a little more resilient than the headlines might insinuate," said Wood.

With Ukraine's economy near collapse¹², the United States on Monday announced a one billion dollar loan guarantee for Ukraine, adding to an International Monetary¹³ Fund rescue package worth up to 27 billion dollars, said Treasury¹⁴ Secretary Jack¹⁵ Lew. 

“With this loan guarantee agreement, the Ukrainian government is empowered to take steps to gain access to low cost financing from international capital markets and help to ease Ukraine’s economic transition,” said Lew.

Meanwhile, Europe is still in talks aimed at further isolating¹⁶ Russia.

With the ruble already at its lowest level in nearly five years, economist¹⁷ Lilit Gevorgyan at IHS Global Insight said Moscow should take heed¹⁸.

“I have to say that perhaps in the short term, they can take more hits. But in the medium to long term, Russia is going to suffer from this confrontation¹⁹,” said Gevorgyan.

But in this confrontation, analysts²⁰ say any actions that significantly hurt Russia’s economy are bound to hurt its trading partners, including Europe. Russia currently supplies 30 percent of Europe's natural gas, much of it piped in through Ukraine.