纽约时报 乌克兰边境紧张局势升级(2)（在线收听）

    President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia presided over tests of nuclear-capable missiles as part of what Russia insists are nothing more than exercises and not the precursor to an invasion.

    俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京主持了可携带核弹头的导弹试验，俄罗斯坚称，这些试验只不过是演习的一部分，而不是入侵的前兆。

    Tensions between the United States and Russia have not been this high since the Cold War,美国和俄罗斯之间的紧张局势自冷战以来从未达到如此高度，and Russia’s nuclear drills appeared carefully timed to deter the West from direct military involvement in Ukraine.

    俄罗斯的核演习似乎是精心安排的时间，以阻止西方对乌克兰进行直接军事干预。

    Western leaders gathering in Munich issued repeated calls for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis,聚集在慕尼黑的西方领导人多次呼吁通过外交途径解决危机，despite President Biden’s claim on Friday that Mr. Putin had already decided to invade Ukraine.

    尽管拜登总统周五称普京已经决定入侵乌克兰。

    The leaders displayed a remarkably united front in what Vice President Kamala Harris called “a defining moment” for European security and the defense of democratic values.

    在副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯所说的欧洲安全和捍卫民主价值观的“决定性时刻”中，各国领导人表现出了惊人的统一团结。

    But in Ukraine, the fighting edged perilously closer to a tipping point.

    但在乌克兰，战斗正危险地接近一个临界点。

    And there were alarming signs of what American officials described as possible precursors to a pretext for a Russian invasion.

    还有一些令人担忧的迹象，美国官员称这些迹象可能为俄罗斯入侵提供了借口。

    Intense artillery barrages targeted a pocket of government-controlled territory around the town of Svitlodarsk,密集的炮火袭击了斯维特洛达斯克附近政府控制的一小块地区。

    a spot that has worried security analysts for weeks for its proximity to dangerous industrial infrastructure, including storage tanks for poisonous gas.

    这个地方由于靠近危险的工业基础设施，包括有毒气体储罐，几周来一直令安全分析人士担忧。

    A stray shell from returning government fire risks hitting a chemical plant about six miles away in separatist-controlled territory.

    从政府返回的炮弹中，一枚脱落的炮弹可能击中了六英里外分裂分子控制地区的一家化工厂。

    The plant, one of Europe’s largest fertilizer factories, has pressurized tanks and more than 12 miles of pipelines holding poisonous ammonia gas.

    这家化肥厂是欧洲最大的化肥厂之一，拥有加压罐和长达12英里的有毒氨气管道。

    An explosion there could produce a toxic cloud that could serve as an excuse for a Russian invasion,那里的爆炸可能会产生毒云，这可能会成为俄罗斯入侵的借口，or American officials have warned, Russia could stage its own explosion there to justify intervention.

    或者美国官员警告称，俄罗斯可能会在那里上演自己的爆炸，以证明干预是合理的。

    Another potential flash point in the area, a water network that supplies drinking water to several million people on both sides of the conflict, may have been damaged by shelling on Saturday.

    该地区的另一个潜在引爆点是为冲突双方的数百万人提供饮用水的供水网络，该网络可能已被周六的炮击破坏。

    Russia’s Interfax news agency cited a spokesman for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic saying that shelling had struck a pumping station and the water supply was at risk.

    俄罗斯国际文传电讯社援引自封的顿涅茨克人民共和国发言人的话说，炮火袭击了一个泵站，供水处于危险之中。