唐纳德·特朗普对长期被美国捍卫的价值观背叛毫无问题。10月9日宣布的关于运送数千公吨俄罗斯柴油的协议——这是共和党为限制即将到来的中期选举中所担忧的损失而做出的尝试——代表了一个新低。
Donald Trump has no issues betraying values long defended by the United States. The agreement announced on October 9 regarding the delivery of thousands of metric tons of Russian diesel – an attempt to limit the losses feared by Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections – represents a new low.
这既违背了国会通过的两部法律的条文，也违背了其精神。其中一部法律是在不到一个月前通过的，其灵感来源于已故参议员林赛·格雷厄姆，他是特朗普的盟友，于7月去世。与此同时，针对乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基下台的呼声，特朗普的燃料公告表明，华盛顿的乌克兰政策如今正被莫斯科所左右。曾由罗纳德·里根领导的党接受了这项协议（极少数例外除外），这凸显了这场灾难的规模。
This is a violation of both the letter and the spirit of two laws passed by Congress. One of these, passed less than a month ago, was inspired by the late Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally who passed away in July. Coupled with calls for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to step down, Trump's fuel announcement shows that Washington's Ukraine policy is now being dictated by Moscow. The fact that the party once led by Ronald Reagan accepted the deal, with rare exceptions, highlights the scale of the debacle.
如果说美国作为世界领先的石油大国可能为俄罗斯战争机器提供资金还不够，那么现在还必须加上美国对乌克兰军队情报共享的令人担忧的中断——这种共享曾使乌克兰人能够预判俄罗斯的袭击——以及运行在SpaceX创始人埃隆·马斯克控制的卫星网络上的军事通信系统的临时减速（马斯克曾指责五角大楼）。这些都是令人不安的迹象，因为致命的俄罗斯轰炸正在冬季来临之际针对乌克兰平民基础设施。
As if the possible funding of the Russian war machine by the United States, the world's leading oil power, wasn't enough, one must now add the alarming interruption of American intelligence sharing with the Ukrainian military, which had enabled Ukrainians to anticipate Russian strikes, and the temporary slowdown of the military communications system running on the satellite network controlled by SpaceX founder Elon Musk (who has blamed the Pentagon). These are all troubling signs as deadly Russian bombardments target Ukrainian civilian infrastructure on the eve of winter.
在布鲁塞尔于10月15日和16日举行的欧洲理事会会议前夕，特朗普的立场及此次升级——这与针对基辅欧洲盟友的混合战争形式相呼应——应该改变关于俄罗斯资产的辩论性质。目前，作为对俄罗斯在2022年入侵乌克兰后实施的国际制裁的一部分，欧洲冻结了2100亿欧元的俄罗斯中央银行资金。
In the lead-up to the European Council meeting scheduled in Brussels on October 15 and 16, Trump's stance and this escalation – which mirrors the hybrid warfare targeting Kyiv's European allies – should change the nature of the debate regarding Russian assets. There are currently €210 billion in Russian Central Bank funds frozen in Europe as part of international sanctions imposed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
几个月来，欧洲领导人一直在反复讨论如何处理这些资金。到目前为止，法律主义的方法占了上风，欧洲国家认为没收这些资产将树立一个危险的先例。然而，特朗普一直表明，纵容普京毫无用处。他个人特使开展的各种外交任务毫无成果，因为总统从未敢于与俄罗斯领导人建立真正的力量平衡。
For months, European leaders have gone back and forth over what to do with these funds. So far, a legalistic approach has prevailed, with European countries arguing that seizing these assets would set a dangerous precedent. Yet Trump has continually demonstrated that accommodating Putin leads nowhere. The various diplomatic missions undertaken by his personal envoys have been fruitless because the president has never dared to establish a real balance of power with the Russian leader.
欧洲的犹豫受到比利时的推动，比利时持有俄罗斯大部分资产。这些资产汇聚在Euroclear，这是一家总部位于布鲁塞尔的金融托管机构。为了防止俄罗斯施压Euroclear和比利时当局，已经提出了新的解决方案。目前由欧洲议会成员倡导的最有前景的方案是，将俄罗斯的账户——包括资产和负债——转移到欧洲联盟层面。
European hesitation has been fueled by Belgium, which holds most of Russia's assets. They are pooled within Euroclear, a Brussels-based financial depository institution. To prevent Russia from pressuring Euroclear and Belgian authorities, new solutions have been proposed. The most promising, currently championed by members of the European Parliament, would be to transfer the Russian accounts – both assets and liabilities – to the European Union level.
在这一步之后，欧盟可以承诺补偿Euroclear等机构，以防它们遭受财务损失。随后，这些资金将被重新定向到基辅，使得即使在特朗普任期之后也能持续支持乌克兰的抵抗。普京对欧洲人既不吝啬蔑视也不吝啬威胁。现在轮到欧洲人将强大欧洲的概念付诸实践——这是莫斯科唯一能理解的语言。
After this first step, the EU could commit to compensating institutions such as Euroclear should they incur financial losses. The funds would then be redirected to Kyiv, making it possible to sustain Ukrainian resistance even beyond Trump's term. Putin spares neither contempt nor threats when it comes to Europeans. It is now up to them to put into practice the concept of a powerful Europe – the only language Moscow understands.