普京令俄国西部军队进入戒备状态

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，弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)下令俄罗斯武装力量进入戒备状态，希望通过展示实力来影响乌克兰的政治方向。此举给金融市场带来恐慌，并招致美国的严厉谴责。

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.

普京下令对俄罗斯西部地区的部队进行突击战备检查，其中包括与乌克兰接壤的地区。国防部长谢尔盖•绍伊古(Sergei Shoigu)坚称，此次检查“与乌克兰局势无关”，但美国国务卿约翰•克里(John Kerry)仍清楚地表明，美国绝不会容忍任何干涉乌克兰的企图。

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.”

他敦促莫斯科在乌克兰问题上“做出小心谨慎的判断”。他说：“我们不是来寻求对抗的，而是想清楚地表明，每个国家都应该尊重乌克兰的领土完整和主权。俄罗斯已经表示愿意这么做，我们认为重要的是它信守诺言。”

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”.

日益紧张的局势使卢布投资者感到恐慌。卢布兑美元汇率下跌0.8%，至1美元兑换36.0120卢布，已成为今年以来最弱势的全球主要货币之一。花旗集团(Citigroup)内部新闻通讯引用交易员的话说，人们“将乌克兰当前的局势和2008年相比，当时格鲁吉亚令俄罗斯非常紧张，普京（和梅德韦杰夫）动用了军队”。

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.

普京下令检查军队战备状况之际，克里米亚和俄罗斯传来越来越高的呼声，要求莫斯科方面在乌克兰革命后，“保护”占半岛多数的俄罗斯民族。在上周末发生的乌克兰革命中，维克多•亚努科维奇(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”.

上周以来，普京对乌克兰局势一直保持沉默，但他与几位西方领导人就此问题举行了会谈。知情的克里姆林宫官员和外交官们表示，会谈具有“建设性”，并“集中讨论了如何避免局势升级”。