普京令俄國西部軍隊進入戒備狀態
Vladimir Putin placed Russian armed forces on alert yesterday in a show of strength over the political direction of Ukraine that rattled financial markets and brought a stern rebuke from the US.
昨日，弗拉基米爾•普京(Vladimir Putin)下令俄羅斯武裝力量進入戒備狀態，希望通過展示實力來影響烏克蘭的政治方向。此舉給金融市場帶來恐慌，並招致美國的嚴厲譴責。Mr Putin ordered a surprise drill by forces in western Russia, including areas bordering Ukraine. Sergei Shoigu, defence minister, insisted that the exercise was “unrelated to events in Ukraine”, but John Kerry, US secretary of state, nevertheless made clear that any sign of intervention would not be acceptable to Washington.
普京下令對俄羅斯西部地區的部隊進行突擊戰備檢查，其中包括與烏克蘭接壤的地區。國防部長謝爾蓋•紹伊古(Sergei Shoigu)堅稱，此次檢查“與烏克蘭局勢無關”，但美國國務卿約翰•克里(John Kerry)仍清楚地表明，美國絕不會容忍任何干涉烏克蘭的企圖。He urged Moscow “to be very careful in the judgments that it makes” over Ukraine. “We are not looking for confrontation,” he said. “We are making it clear that every country should respect the territorial integrity here, the sovereignty of Ukraine. Russia has said it would do that and we think it’s important that Russia keeps its word.”
他敦促莫斯科在烏克蘭問題上“做出小心謹慎的判斷”。他說：“我們不是來尋求對抗的，而是想清楚地表明，每個國家都應該尊重烏克蘭的領土完整和主權。俄羅斯已經表示願意這麼做，我們認爲重要的是它信守諾言。”
Rising tensions unnerved investors with the rouble – already one of the weakest leading currencies so far this year – down 0.8 per cent at 36.0120 to the dollar. Traders cited on Citigroup’s internal newswire said people were “comparing this situation with 2008 when Georgia was on the wires and Putin and [Dmitry, now prime minister] Medvedev used force”.
日益緊張的局勢使盧布投資者感到恐慌。盧布兌美元匯率下跌0.8%，至1美元兌換36.0120盧布，已成爲今年以來最弱勢的全球主要貨幣之一。花旗集團(Citigroup)內部新聞通訊引用交易員的話說，人們“將烏克蘭當前的局勢和2008年相比，當時格魯吉亞令俄羅斯非常緊張，普京（和梅德韋傑夫）動用了軍隊”。The move comes amid mounting calls in Crimea and Russia for Moscow to “protect” the ethnic Russian majority of the peninsula’s population in the wake of the revolution which ousted the government of Viktor Yanukovich at the weekend.
普京下令檢查軍隊戰備狀況之際，克里米亞和俄羅斯傳來越來越高的呼聲，要求莫斯科方面在烏克蘭革命後，“保護”佔半島多數的俄羅斯民族。在上週末發生的烏克蘭革命中，維克多•亞努科維奇(Viktor Yanukovich)政府被推翻。Mr Putin has remained silent on the issue since last week but has held talks on Ukraine with several western leaders. Kremlin officials and foreign diplomats with knowledge of the conversations said they had been “constructive” and “focused on avoiding an escalation”.
上週以來，普京對烏克蘭局勢一直保持沉默，但他與幾位西方領導人就此問題舉行了會談。知情的克里姆林宮官員和外交官們表示，會談具有“建設性”，並“集中討論瞭如何避免局勢升級”。
