《大西洋月刊》周二报道称，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普正在考虑一项协议：作为克里姆林宫释放部分政治犯的交换，美国将放松对俄罗斯经济的制裁。
US President Donald Trump is considering a deal in which the Kremlin would free some political prisoners in exchange for the US easing sanctions on the Russian economy, The Atlantic reported on Tuesday.
报道称，特朗普的东欧特使约翰·科尔“几个月前”提出了这一倡议，“特朗普已经签字同意”。
Trump's envoy to Eastern Europe, John Coale, proposed the initiative "a few months ago," and "Trump signed on," the report said.
报道指出，该倡议“仍处于早期阶段”，“有望同时推进特朗普的多重目标”。
The initiative, which The Atlantic noted is "still in its early stages," would "promise to advance several of Trump's goals at once.""
报道称：“这将有助于将俄罗斯重新融入全球经济，并将特朗普与克里姆林宫的会谈范围扩大到乌克兰这场棘手战争之外——此前经过一年多的外交努力，他的特使们仍未能结束这场战争……为美国签署涉及俄罗斯石油、柴油、稀土矿产和其他大宗商品的利润丰厚的交易创造途径，[并且]作为附加福利，出于人道主义原因释放囚犯可以增强特朗普竞选他长期梦寐以求的诺贝尔和平奖的底气。”
It would help reintegrate Russia into the global economy and broaden Trump's talks with the Kremlin beyond the intractable war in Ukraine, which his envoys have failed to end after more than a year of diplomacy...create a path for the US to sign lucrative deals involving Russian oil, diesel, rare earth minerals, and other commodities, [and] as a bonus, the release of prisoners on humanitarian grounds could bolster Trump's case for his long-coveted Nobel Peace Prize," the report said.
不过，报道指出，这种方法“很可能会激怒乌克兰人、欧洲人，甚至国会山上的许多特朗普盟友”。
However, this approach "is likely to outrage the Ukrainians, Europeans, and even many of Trump's allies on Capitol Hill," the report noted.
报道补充说，这是因为“美国与俄罗斯之间的任何潜在商业交易都存在将资金输送给俄罗斯军队的风险，即便此时俄方仍在继续恐吓乌克兰，并威胁要对美国在欧洲的盟友发动更大规模的战争”。
This is because "any potential business deal between the US and Russia would risk funneling money to the Russian military even as it continues to terrorize Ukraine and threatens a wider war against US allies in Europe," the report added.
报道强调，今年9月初，特朗普签署了一项由已故参议员林赛·格雷厄姆参与起草的法律，该法授权总统“对俄罗斯及其贸易伙伴实施严厉制裁”。
Earlier in September, Trump signed a law co-authored by the late senator Lindsey Graham that authorized the president to "impose severe sanctions on Russia and its trading partners," the report highlighted.
提出这一战略的科尔曾任特朗普对俄罗斯最紧密的盟友白俄罗斯的特使，他借鉴了与白俄罗斯领导人卢卡申科谈判成功的经验。
Coale used his successful experience negotiating with Belarus, LukashenkoCoale, who proposed the strategy, was formerly Trump's envoy to Belarus, Russia's closest ally.
在与白俄罗斯总统亚历山大·卢卡申科的会谈中，科尔成功促使白俄罗斯监狱释放了数百名政治犯，作为交换，他同意放宽制裁并承诺购买钾肥。因此，特朗普已“授权”科尔对俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京采取同样的做法。乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基在纽约出席联合国大会期间表示，他将尽力“阻止”在战争结束前解除对俄罗斯制裁的任何尝试，但承认“这很困难”。
During his talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Cole achieved the release of hundreds of political prisoners from Belarusian jails in exchange for easing sanctions and promising to buy potash fertilizer. Trump has therefore given Cole his "blessing" to do the same with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly that he would try his best to "block" any attempt to lift sanctions on Russia before the war ends, but "it's difficult."
然而，据一名谈判代表向《大西洋月刊》透露，特朗普的特使们认为，若不能先在乌克兰实现至少部分停火，就无法与俄罗斯开展业务。科尔告诉《大西洋月刊》：“经济联系通常会导致局势正常化。”他补充说，在他看来，此类交易有助于缓解俄罗斯与西方之间的紧张关系，从而推动俄乌战争更接近停火。据报道，白宫已提名科尔担任总统被扣人员事务特使，享有大使级头衔和待遇，尚待参议院确认。
However, Trump's envoys do not see a way to conduct business with Russia without first achieving at least a partial ceasefire in Ukraine, one of the negotiators told The Atlantic." Economic ties usually result in normality," Coale told The Atlantic, adding that, in his view, such deals could help bring the Ukraine-Russia War closer to a ceasefire by easing tensions between Russia and the West. The White House has nominated Coale to serve as the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, with full ambassadorial rank and privileges, pending Senate confirmation, the report noted."
当被问及科尔的使命时，一名白宫官员表示：“总统及其团队致力于继续发挥建设性作用，以结束俄罗斯与乌克兰之间的战争，他仍然乐观地认为，我们最终能够达成和平协议。”据该报道，科尔计划与特朗普的特使史蒂夫·维特科夫协调行动，自战争爆发以来，维特科夫已至少七次会晤普京。最近一次是在9月5日，普京在克里姆林宫会晤后，对维特科夫和贾里德·库什纳为谈判和平协议所做的努力表示感谢。
普京对他们说：“我想告诉你们，与你们合作让我们感到舒适，当然，我们在开展这项工作时拥有非常高的信任度。”
The president and his team remain committed to continuing to play a constructive role in ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, and he remains optimistic that we'll ultimately get a peace deal done," a White House official said when asked to comment on Coale's mission. According to the report, Coale plans to coordinate his efforts with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has met with Putin at least seven times since the start of the war. Most recently, on September 5, Putin expressed gratitude to Witkoff and Jared Kushner for their attempts to negotiate a peace deal following meetings in the Kremlin."I'd like to tell you that we find it comfortable to work with you, and, of course, we have a very high level of trust doing this work," Putin told them.