Court Decision on Sea Dispute Between Ukraine and Russia

烏克蘭與俄羅斯海洋爭議的法院裁決


Introduction

A court in The Hague made a final decision about the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait.

海牙法院針對亞速海與刻赤海峽作出了最終裁決。

Main Body

Ukraine went to court in 2016. Ukraine wanted the court to say the Kerch Strait is for all countries. Ukraine also wanted Russia to take down a big bridge and pay money for natural resources.

烏克蘭於2016年提起訴訟。烏克蘭希望法院判定刻赤海峽開放給所有國家使用。烏克蘭還要求俄羅斯拆除一座大橋,並就天然資源支付賠償金。

Five judges looked at the case. They said no to most of Ukraine's requests. Russia does not have to take down the bridge. Russia does not have to pay money.

五位法官審理了此案。他們拒絕了烏克蘭的大部分請求。俄羅斯不需要拆除該大橋,也不需要支付賠償金。

The judges found one problem. Russia did not check the environment well for some pipes and cables. But the judges did not order Russia to stop or pay.

法官發現了一個問題。俄羅斯在鋪設某些管道與電纜時,未對環境進行充分評估。但法官並未命令俄羅斯停止作業或支付賠償。

Russia is happy. Russian leaders say they won. They say the sea is now theirs. But the court did not say who owns the land of Crimea.

俄羅斯對此表示滿意。俄羅斯領導人聲稱他們獲勝,並表示該海域現在屬於他們。但法院並未就克里米亞的領土所有權做出判定。

Conclusion

The court said no to Ukraine's main requests, but it said Russia had some environmental problems.

法院拒絕了烏克蘭的主要請求,但指出俄羅斯在環境方面存在一些問題。

Vocabulary Learning

⚡ The 'Power' of NOT

In this story, we see how to say "no" or "stop" using does not and did not. This is the most important way to describe things that are NOT happening.

1. Now/General (Does not) Use this for facts or rules.

  • Russia does not have to pay. \rightarrow (It is not a rule for them to pay).
  • Russia does not have to take down the bridge. \rightarrow (They can keep the bridge).

2. Past/Finished (Did not) Use this for things that happened (or didn't happen) before.

  • Russia did not check the environment. \rightarrow (In the past, they forgot to check).
  • The court did not say who owns the land. \rightarrow (The judges stayed silent about the land).

💡 Quick Cheat Sheet

TimeWordExample
TodayDoes notHe does not want it.
YesterdayDid notHe did not want it.

Vocabulary Learning

decision (n.)
A choice that you make after thinking about a problem
Example:The judge made a final decision about the case.
dispute (n.)
An argument between two people or groups
Example:The two countries had a dispute over the sea.
resources (n.)
Useful things like oil, gas, or water that come from nature
Example:The ocean has many natural resources.
requests (n.)
Things that you ask for
Example:The court said no to most of the requests.
environment (n.)
The natural world, including air, water, and land
Example:We must protect the environment from pollution.
Practice A2 words in a crossword