美國警告俄羅斯勿升級在敘軍事行動

The US has warned Russia that it will soon suffer casualties from its “misguided” military intervention in Syria, as Nato stepped up support for Turkey in its stand-off with Moscow.

美國警告俄羅斯稱，俄將很快因其在敘利亞展開的“錯誤”軍事幹預而遭受傷亡。目前，北約(Nato)在土耳其與俄的對峙中加大了對土的支持。

Speaking after a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels, Ashton Carter, US defence secretary, urged Moscow not to escalate its military presence in Syria and spoke out against violations of Turkish air space and other “unprofessional behaviour” by Russian forces.

在與北約各國國防部長於布魯塞爾舉行會晤後發表講話時，美國國防部長阿什頓慍祓(Ashton Carter)敦促俄不要升級在敘利亞的軍事存在，並對俄軍侵犯土耳其領空的行爲及其他“不專業的行爲”表示了公開反對。

“This will have consequences for Russia itself, which is rightfully fearful of attacks upon Russia,” said Mr Carter. “And I also expect that in coming days, the Russians will begin to suffer casualties in Syria.”

“這將給俄自身帶來後果，它擔心自身會遭到攻擊，有這種想法是正常的，”卡特表示，“此外我還預期，未來幾天俄將開始在敘利亞遭受傷亡。”

Russia’s dramatic intervention in the Syrian conflict topped the agenda at Thursday’s defence ministers meeting. Russia on Wednesday mounted its heaviest bombing operation in Syria to date, launching 26 long-range cruise missiles from ships in the Caspian Sea at rebel forces in Syria. Russian ground attack aircraft based at Latakia also struck targets across the country.

俄對敘利亞衝突展開的大規模干預是週四北約國防部長會議的首要議題。週三，俄在敘發動了迄今最爲猛烈的轟炸行動，從裏海上的軍艦向敘反政府武裝發射了26枚遠程巡航導彈。拉塔基亞(Latakia)基地的俄對地攻擊機還襲擊了敘利亞各地的多個目標。

Russian aircraft twice violated Turkish airspace this week, angering Ankara and pitching Nato into another dangerous stand-off with the Kremlin. Nato officials say the violations were deliberate. Moscow has insisted they were navigational errors.

俄飛機本週兩次侵犯土耳其領空，這不但激怒了土耳其，還令北約與俄陷入又一場危險的對峙中。北約官員表示，俄是故意侵犯土耳其領空。莫斯科方面則堅稱是導航失誤導致的。

Russia has carefully couched its intervention as an operation aimed at destroying the terror organisation Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra, an affiliate of al-Qaeda.

俄煞費苦心地把其對敘展開的干預描述爲旨在摧毀恐怖組織“伊拉克與黎凡特伊斯蘭國”(ISIS)及基地組織(al-Qaeda)分支Jabhat al-Nusra的行動。

However, Washington and its allies — whose own campaign against Isis has entered its second year — insist Moscow’s activities are designed to shore up the regime of Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president.

然而，美國及其盟友（它們一方發起的打擊ISIS的行動已進入第二個年頭）堅稱，俄方的行動是爲了支撐敘利亞總統巴沙爾阿薩德(Bashar al-Assad)的政權。

Russia’s bombing on Wednesday was co-ordinated with a new ground offensive from the Assad regime against rebel targets, many of them moderate forces aligned with the US, supported by Iran-backed militias.

俄週三展開的轟炸是與阿薩德政權發動的打擊反政府武裝的新地面攻勢協調進行的。

Western military officials and diplomats have watched with growing concern as Russia has increased the size of its forces in Syria. Michael Fallon, the UK defence secretary, said: “Russia is making a very serious situation in Syria much more dangerous”.

隨着俄擴大在敘軍事存在，西方軍事官員和外交官員越發感到擔憂。英國國防大臣邁克爾法倫(Michael Fallon)表示：“俄正在大幅加大敘利亞嚴峻局勢的危險性。”

Speaking on Wednesday, Douglas Lute, US ambassador to Nato, said reinforcements in the past week meant Russia had around 1,000 troops in the country and advanced ground weaponry at Latakia.

美國駐北約大使道格拉斯戠祓(Douglas Lute)週三發表講話時表示，過去一週俄在敘利亞增強了軍力，該國在敘已部署了約1000名軍事人員，在拉塔基亞部署了先進的地面武器。