[ti:Ukraine Seeks NATO’s Help in Dispute with Russia] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.01]Ukraine is asking the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, [00:07.68]for help after Russia seized three Ukrainian naval ships and their crews. [00:16.90]Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko urged NATO countries [00:25.77]to send naval ships to the Sea of Azov. [00:31.34]His comments were reported in the German newspaper Bild. [00:38.26]Poroshenko said Ukraine's NATO allies were needed "to provide security" [00:47.11]after Russian forces seized the ships and their crews on Sunday. [00:53.98]He told the newspaper the seizures showed [00:58.30]that Russian President Vladimir Putin [01:01.55]"wants nothing less than to occupy the sea." [01:07.40]The Ukrainian government has said Russia is blocking shipping activity [01:14.90]to and from Ukrainian ports near the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait. [01:24.17]The Kerch Strait connects the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea. [01:31.23]Russia denies it is restricting shipping in the area. [01:36.87]It has said the Ukrainians were violating Russian waters [01:42.72]and that Ukraine did not inform Russian officials of its naval movements. [01:49.87]Ukraine denies this. [01:53.54]Poroshenko said sending NATO ships would send a clear message to Putin. [02:01.71]"The only language he understands is the unity of the Western world," he said. [02:10.21]Earlier this week, NATO released a statement condemning Russia's [02:17.25]"use of military force against Ukraine." [02:21.82]The alliance called on Russia to provide unrestricted access [02:27.40]to Ukrainian ports and permit "freedom of navigation." [02:33.41]The United States and other countries [02:37.26]have also criticized the Russian actions in the Kerch Strait. [02:43.16]On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced [02:48.50]that he was canceling planned talks with Putin over the issue. [02:54.38]The two leaders were to meet at the G-20 summit in Argentina this weekend. [03:02.25]On Twitter, Trump said that his decision was "based on the fact [03:08.36]that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia." [03:14.95]He added that he looks forward to a future meeting [03:19.55]with Putin "as soon as this situation is resolved." [03:25.72]German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she does plan [03:31.67]to meet with Putin at the G-20 meetings. [03:35.45]She said she will urge him to order the release of the Ukrainians and their ships. [03:42.56]Following the Russian seizures, [03:46.44]Poroshenko declared martial law in parts of Ukraine. [03:51.82]Putin has accused the Ukrainian president of provoking the naval incident [03:59.00]and using it so that he could declare martial law. [04:03.53]He said he thinks Poroshenko took the action to build up his popularity [04:10.72]before planned presidential elections in March. [04:15.41]The shipping incident is the latest dispute between the two countries [04:21.57]since Russian forces took the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. [04:29.63]At the time, the Russian government said [04:33.46]Crimea's ethnic Russian majority was under threat. [04:37.91]Pro-Russian forces have also been fighting Ukrainian forces [04:44.11] in eastern Ukraine, although tensions have recently eased. [04:50.15]I'm Bryan Lynn. [04:52.94]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM