A senior State department official has told Moscow the United States is open to reconfiguring a European missile-defense program - aimed at Iran - that has generated Russian concerns. The third-ranking State Department official - Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns - held talks on the issue this week in Moscow.
美国国务院第三号人物、负责政治事务的国务次卿威廉.伯恩斯告诉莫斯科，美国对修改针对伊朗的欧洲导弹防御计划持开放态度，这项计划引起俄罗斯的关切。伯恩斯这个星期就这一问题在莫斯科跟俄罗斯官员举行了会谈。
Officials here are giving no details of Burns's talks in Moscow. But they do not contest remarks attributed to him by Russia's Interfax news agency that the Obama administration is seeking Russian cooperation based on what Burns described as a "new configuration" on missile defense that would use resources both countries have.
美国国务院官员没有透露伯恩斯在莫斯科会谈的详细情况。不过他们也没有对俄罗斯国际文传电讯社有关伯恩斯的评论进行争辩，这个通讯社的报导说，伯恩斯表示，在导弹防御系统问题上，奥巴马政府正在根据“新构想”寻求俄罗斯的合作，这个“新构想”将利用两国拥有的资源。
Repairing the US-Russian rift
U.S.-Russian relations soured last year, due in part to a push by the former Bush administration for a missile defense system in central Europe aimed at what was framed as a looming long-range missile threat from so-called "rogue states,' principally Iran.
美国和俄罗斯的关系去年变坏，部分原因是前总统布什的政府急于在中欧部署导弹防御体系，声称这套防御体系是要对付主要来自伊朗等所谓“无赖”国家迫在眉睫的远程导弹威胁。
The Bush plan called for stationing of 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a related radar system in the Czech Republic. Though the Bush administration offered Moscow transparency measures including on-site inspections, Russia adamantly opposed the program as a threat to its own missile deterrence.
布什政府的导弹防御计划要在波兰部署10枚拦截导弹，在捷克共和国部署配套的雷达系统。尽管当时的布什政府采取了允许莫斯科到现场进行核查等透明措施，俄罗斯仍然坚决反对这项计划，认为这是对俄罗斯导弹威慑力量的威胁。
Russia's Ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin told the Reuters new agency Moscow would wait to see how the United States follows-up on Burns's remarks but he said if the Obama administration does review its missile defense plan, it would be a big gift to the region.
俄罗斯驻北约组织代表罗戈辛对路透社说，莫斯科要看看在伯恩斯发表上述言论之后，美国到底如何行动。不过，罗戈辛表示，如果奥巴马政府的确重新审议导弹防御计划，那将是送给该地区的一份厚礼。
Diplomacy vs. missiles
At a news briefing, State Department Deputy Spokesman Gordon Duguid said it is heartening that Burn's remarks in Moscow were seemingly well-received.
美国国务院副发言人戈登.杜吉德在新闻发布会上说，伯恩斯在莫斯科的这番话似乎受到欢迎，令人鼓舞。
He said the new U.S. administration still supports missile defense, provided it is threat-specific and that the technology for it proves feasible and cost-effective.
杜吉德说，新一届美国政府仍然支持导弹防御计划，前提是针对具体的威胁，而且防御系统技术行之有效，费用适当。
Duguid also said the need for a missile-defense system would diminish if efforts by the United States, Russia and other major powers to dissuade Iran from developing nuclear weapons can show success.
杜吉德还说，如果美国、俄罗斯等主要国家阻止伊朗发展核武器的努力能够取得成功，那么建立导弹防御系统的必要性就会减小。
"We will pursue the issue of missile defense but obviously we are going to take into account a number of factors. One is whether the system works. Another is whether it is cost-effective. Another is the nature of the threat. If through strong diplomacy we and our other partners, including Russia can reduce or eliminate the threat, it obviously shapes the way we look at missile defense and its deployment," he said.
杜吉德说：“我们将实施导弹防御计划，不过很显然，我们会考虑几个因素。其中之一是这套体系是否行之有效，另一个因素是这套系统是否费用适当。再有就是我们面临的威胁的性质。如果通过强有力的外交工作，我们和俄罗斯等合作伙伴国家能够降低或者消除这种威胁，那显然就达到了我们考虑导弹防御体系和部署这套系统所要达到的目的。”
The United States along with the other permanent U.N. Security Council member countries and Germany - the P-5+1 - have offered Iran various incentives to stop a uranium-enrichment program U.S. and European officials believe is weapons-related.
美国和联合国安理会其它几个常任理事国以及德国向伊朗提出了各种激励方案，以换取伊朗停止铀浓缩计划，美国和欧洲官员认为伊朗的铀浓缩计划跟武器有关。
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, has ignored three Security Council sanctions resolutions on the issue. The Bush administration wanted even tougher sanctions though Russia and China have to date resisted the idea.
伊朗对安理会就其铀浓缩计划通过的三项制裁决议置之不理，声称其核计划用于和平目的。布什政府曾希望对伊朗进行更加严厉的制裁，但是俄罗斯和中国到目前为止一直反对这样做。
Undersecretary Burns and his P-5+1 colleagues held their first meeting on Iran since the new U.S. administration took office last week in Germany.
美国国务次卿伯恩斯以及五加一国家中的同行上星期在德国就伊朗问题举行了新一届美国政府上任以来的首次会议。
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has not yet had a face-to-face meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. But European Union chief diplomat Javier Solana said in Washington Friday they will meet March 6 in Geneva, a day after a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.
美国国务卿希拉里.克林顿还没有跟俄罗斯外长拉夫罗夫举行面对面会谈。不过欧盟负责外交政策的官员索拉纳星期五在华盛顿表示，两人3月6号将在日内瓦会晤，也就是北约外长布鲁塞尔会议结束后的第二天。 |