普京稱美國打擊敘利亞是受騙結果

The US’s top diplomat arrived in Moscow yesterday evening amid mounting tensions between the Kremlin and White House, with Vladimir Putin warning Washington it was being duped into attacks against the Syrian regime.

美國最高外交官昨晚抵達莫斯科。目前克里姆林宮和白宮之間的緊張不斷升級，弗拉基米爾?普京(Vladimir Putin)警告華盛頓，美國在軍事打擊敘利亞政權的決定上受騙了。

Mr Putin’s allegations that recent chemical attacks in north-western Syria were “provocations” were made just hours before Rex Tillerson landed in the Russian capital for his inaugural visit as US secretary of state.

就在作爲美國國務卿首次到訪的雷克斯?蒂勒森(Rex Tillerson)抵達俄羅斯首都幾小時前，普京聲稱，最近在敘利亞西北部發生的化武襲擊是有人“挑釁”。

Russia’s president defied an Anglo-American call to end backing for Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian leader the US and European allies blame for last week’s chemical attack that led US President Donald Trump to order a cruise missile attack on Syria’s Shayrat Airbase.

俄羅斯總統沒有理睬英美兩國的呼籲，即終止對巴沙爾?阿薩德(Bashar al-Assad)的支持。美國和歐洲盟國指責這位敘利亞領導人要對上週的化武襲擊負責，此次襲擊導致美國總統唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump)下令對敘利亞的沙伊拉特空軍基地(Shayrat Airbase)發起巡航導彈襲擊。

Turkish authorities, which have carried out autopsies on victims, said yesterday that sarin was used in the attack.

對受害者進行了屍檢的土耳其當局昨日證實，那次襲擊確實使用了沙林毒氣。

On the eve of Mr Tillerson’s meetings with Russian leaders, Mr Putin insisted that Mr Assad was not behind the bombing, saying Moscow had information “from different sources” that it was carried out by rebel groups intent on dragging the US into the conflict.

蒂勒森與俄羅斯領導人會晤前夕，普京堅稱，那次轟炸並不是阿薩德干的。他聲稱，莫斯科掌握“不同來源”的信息，顯示化武襲擊是由反叛組織發起的，目的是把美國拖入這場衝突。

“Similar provocations — and I can’t call it anything other than that — are being prepared in other parts of Syria?.?.?.?where they are planning to again plant some substance and accuse Syrian authorities of using it,” he said.

“類似的挑釁——我不能把它稱爲其它任何東西——在敘利亞其他地區正在籌備中……他們計劃再次用一些物質進行栽贓，指責敘利亞當局使用它，”普京說。

The claims highlighted the scale of the challenge facing Mr Tillerson, who cultivated relations with Mr Putin during his tenure as chief of ExxonMobil. His diplomatic task was complicated in a pre-trip meeting with Group of Seven counterparts in Italy, where allies were split over whether to impose new sanctions on the Kremlin for the chemical attack.

這類說法突顯了蒂勒森面臨的挑戰的艱鉅性；他在執掌埃克森美孚(ExxonMobil)期間曾與普京發展了良好關係。在訪問俄羅斯之前，他在意大利出席了七國集團(G7)外長會議。對於要不要因爲此次化武襲擊對克里姆林宮實施新的制裁，各盟國在會上意見分歧，這使蒂勒森的外交任務進一步複雜化。

After two days of talks, G7 foreign ministers called for a “credible political transition in Syria” but stopped short of repeating the US-British call for Russia to ditch its alliance with Mr Assad . They rejected new sanctions.

經過兩天商談，G7外長呼籲“在敘利亞進行可信的政治過渡”，但沒有重複美英的呼籲，即要求俄方放棄其與阿薩德的聯盟。他們拒絕了新的制裁。

Instead, a communique urged Moscow to “promote a real and genuine political process” in Syria — a softer line than Mr Tillerson had taken in the run-up to the trip, where he accused Russia of being either “complicit” in the chemical attack or “incompetent” for failing to reign in its Syrian allies.

相反，G7外長會議的公報敦促莫斯科方面在敘利亞“促進切實和真正的政治進程”，這比蒂勒森在動身之前表述的立場更爲柔和；他指責俄羅斯在此次化武襲擊中要麼是“共謀”，要麼“無能”，未能管好其敘利亞盟友。

The White House strongly rejected suggestions that the attacks were the result of opposition forces hitting a weapons depot. One official said the US had evidence that Syrian officials connected to a chemical weapons programme were at Shayrat in the run-up to the attack and on the day itself.

白宮堅決拒絕有關此次襲擊是反政府武裝擊中武器庫所致的說法。一位官員表示，美國掌握的證據表明，在此次化武襲擊前夕和襲擊當日，與化學武器計劃有聯繫的不止一名敘利亞官員在沙伊拉特空軍基地。

Another US official said the Syrian regime appeared to have calculated it needed to use chemical weapons because of manpower shortages.

另一位美國官員表示，敘利亞政權的盤算似乎是，由於兵力短缺，它需要使用化學武器。

US allies like Italy and Germany believe a tough stance on sanctions and regime change could backfire and make it harder for Russia to bring Mr Assad back to the negotiating table.

意大利和德國等美國的盟友認爲，在制裁和政權更迭問題上採取強硬立場可能會事與願違，使俄羅斯更難把阿薩德拉回談判桌。