虽然林赛·O·格雷厄姆制裁俄罗斯法案存在一些重要缺陷，但其核心目的仍是合理的：该提案旨在对弗拉基米尔·普京在俄罗斯的政权及其贸易伙伴实施制裁和其他经济惩罚。该法案在国会山以相对容易的方式通过，两天后，尽管共和党总统对莫斯科一直持软弱态度，唐纳德·特朗普仍签署了该法案使其成为法律。
Though the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act suffered from some important flaws its central purpose was sound: The proposal was created to impose sanctions and other economic penalties against Vladimir Putin’s regime in Russia and its trading partners. It cleared Capitol Hill with relative ease and two days later, Donald Trump signed it into law despite the Republican president’s record of weakness toward Moscow.
周五晚间——政客们常选择此时发布他们希望不被注意的信息——美国总统暂停了他近一个月前刚刚签署的该法律的实施。
Late Friday — a time politicians frequently use to release information they hope will go unnoticed — the American president halted implementation of the law he had signed almost exactly one month earlier.
美联社报道称，周五，总统唐纳德·特朗普签署了一项行政命令，暂停了一项针对俄罗斯经济的广泛新制裁方案，并告诉国会，此次暂停是出于国家利益的考虑。
The Associated Press reported President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order that puts on hold a sweeping new sanctions package targeting the Russian economy, telling Congress the pause was in the national interest.
特朗普就在上个月亲自签署了该立法，而他的这一举动恰好发生在该法律自身规定的实施截止日期前两天。
Trump personally signed the legislation just last month and his move came just two days before a deadline set in the law itself for its implementation.
在一份书面声明中，这位共和党人表示，他决定阻止该法律的实施，因为根据白宫的说法，这符合“美国的国家利益”。特朗普并未具体说明，暂停对俄罗斯的制裁究竟如何符合美国的国家利益。
In a written statement, the Republican said he had decided to block implementation of the law because, according to the White House, it’s in “the national interests of the United States.”Trump made no effort to explain , exactly, it was in the United States’ interest to waive sanctions on Russia.
民主党的谴责立即传出。“特朗普刚刚送给普京今年他能收到的最好的生日礼物，”参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默说。“通过给俄罗斯经济续命，特朗普与魔鬼的交易变得越来越肮脏。特朗普向普京屈服并使俄罗斯免受美国制裁，这与‘美国优先’毫无关系。”纽约州民主党人补充说，“美国人需要摆脱飙涨的物价。相反，特朗普正在帮助和纵容一个独裁者，而这个独裁者曾帮助伊朗在中东针对美军。”
The condemnations from Democrats were immediate. “Trump just gave Putin the best birthday gift he’ll get this year,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “By giving the Russian economy life support, Trump’s deal with the devil keeps getting dirtier. There’s nothing America First about Trump caving to Putin and exempting Russia from U.S. sanctions.”The New York Democrat added, “Americans need relief from skyrocketing prices. Instead, Trump is aiding and abetting a dictator who has helped Iran target U.S. troops in the Middle East.”
然而，这种反弹并不仅限于总统的批评者。相反，几位知名国会共和党人以及前副总统迈克·彭斯也抨击了这一举动，并公开敦促特朗普重新考虑。
The backlash, however, wasn’t limited to the president’s critics. On the contrary, several prominent congressional Republicans, as well as former Vice President Mike Pence, slammed the move and publicly urged Trump to reconsider.
可以预见的是，他忽略了这些呼声。事实上，周日下午，美国总统在他的社交媒体平台上发表了对其政策的辩护，坚称他“正在谈判和平的过程中”，并且他认为实施美国法律和惩罚俄罗斯可能会让普京政府“远离谈判桌”。同样的声明还抨击了乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基和前美国总统乔·拜登，但其中没有任何可比性的对普京的批评，而该声明根本没有提到普京。
Predictably, he ignored the calls. In fact, on Sunday afternoon, the American president published a defense of his policy to his social media platform, insisting that he was “in the process of negotiating Peace,” and that he believed implementing U.S. law and penalizing Russia would likely drive Putin’s government “away from the bargaining table.”The same statement slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and former U.S. President Joe Biden, but it included no comparable criticism of Putin, whom the missive didn’t refer to at all.
乍看之下，特朗普给出的理由实在难以令人信服。事实上，长期以来他一直在毫无道理地向普京送上各种“大礼”——解除对俄罗斯柴油的制裁措施、附和克里姆林宫的言论、向俄罗斯经济注入数十亿美元、散布针对乌克兰的虚假指控、无视美国禁止进口俄罗斯石油的相关法律、对俄罗斯在美军与伊朗交战期间提供的援助视而不见，还屡屡为莫斯科带来外交上的胜利——然而得到的回报却是更多致命的攻击。换言之，特朗普为俄罗斯领导人带来的种种好处丝毫未能推动和平进程。
At face value, Trump’s written rationale is difficult to take seriously. Indeed, to an almost cartoonish degree, he’s been showering Putin with unearned gifts for quite a while — offering sanctions relief for Russian diesel fuel echoing Kremlin talking points pumping billions of dollars into the Russian economy peddling false accusations against Ukraine, ignoring existing U.S. laws that ban Russian oil imports, looking the other way on Russia aiding Iran during the ongoing U.S. war, delivering diplomatic victories for Moscow etc. — and getting nothing in return except more deadly attacks The benefits Trump is delivering to his Russian counterpart, in other words, have not advanced the peace process in any way.
不过，既然特朗普所说的理由站不住脚，他为何会对普京表现出如此卑躬屈膝的态度呢？《大西洋月刊》的乔纳森·蔡特近期列举了几种可能的解释：从普京成功实施了奉承策略，到共和党人普遍对独裁政权抱有好感，甚至还有腐败的可能性。
But if Trump’s stated reason doesn’t make sense, what’s the reason for his humiliating weakness toward Putin? The Atlantic’s Jonathan Chait recently ran through some of the possible explanations, ranging from Putin running a successful flattery campaign to the Republicans’ general sympathies for authoritarian dictatorships to potential corruption.
我们也不应忘记，就在2020年，曾在特朗普第一任期内担任国家情报总监的前共和党参议员丹·科茨在接受鲍勃·伍德沃德采访时承认，任职期间他时常怀疑普京掌握了能要挟特朗普的把柄——这种疑虑随着时间推移愈发强烈，甚至可能影响了这位美国总统的决策。
Let’s also not forget that as recently as 2020, former Republican Sen. Dan Coats, who served as Trump’s director of national intelligence during his first term, conceded in an interview with Bob Woodward that he spent much of his tenure as DNI wondering whether Putin had something on Trump— a concern that intensified over time — that somehow compromised the American president.
“除此之外，还能如何解释总统的种种行为呢？科茨实在想不出别的解释，”伍德沃德这样写道。
“How else to explain the president’s behavior? Coats could see no other explanation,” Woodward wrote.
展望未来，如果民主党能在国会占据多数席位，或许会针对所谓的俄罗斯影响力渗透行动以及普京在华盛顿的影响力展开深入调查。不过与此同时，《华尔街日报》报道称，普京正提议举办俄罗斯、中国与美国三方峰会，而此次峰会似乎将决定乌克兰的未来命运。
Looking ahead, a possible Democratic majority in Congress could launch a meaningful investigation into alleged Russian influence campaigns and Putin’s influence in Washington. But in the meantime, The Wall Street Journal reported that Putin is proposing some kind of summit between Russia, China and the United States, which would apparently decide Ukraine’s future.
根据普京提出的方案，乌克兰官员将不被允许参与有关本国未来的讨论。
Ukrainian officials, under Putin’s proposed plan, would not be welcome at the discussion about their own country’s future.
文章来源：特朗普最新亲普京举措引发两党强烈反对及诸多尴尬质疑——MS NOW
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