普京下令俄軍與法國聯手打擊ISIS
President Vladimir Putin yesterday ordered Russia’s armed forces to co-ordinate with the French military as “allies” on a joint action plan in Syria, signalling a growing rapprochement after the terror attacks on Paris and downing of a Russian airliner.
俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾·普京(Vladimir Putin)昨日下令俄軍與法國“盟軍”統籌制定在敘利亞的聯合作戰計劃，突顯在巴黎遭遇恐怖襲擊和俄羅斯一架客機因遭到破壞而失事後，俄法兩國相互走近。
Mr Putin’s order, coupled with planned visits by French president Hollande to Moscow and Washington next week, suggested a shift in strategy over Syria in the face of the shared threat from Islamist terrorism.
普京的命令，加上法國總統弗朗索瓦·奧朗德( Hollande)計劃下週訪問莫斯科和華盛頓，似乎表明面對伊斯蘭主義恐怖組織的共同威脅，各方在敘利亞的策略出現轉向。
It also signalled that Mr Putin’s calls since September for a “grand coalition” to fight Isis might be moving closer to reality — along with his hopes of easing Moscow’s isolation from the west since its military intervention in Ukraine last year.
這也標誌着，普京自9月以來一直呼籲建立的打擊“伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯蘭國”(ISIS)的“大聯盟”可能越來越接近現實，他對於緩解俄方自去年軍事幹預烏克蘭以來被西方孤立的期待也有望實現。
“A French naval battle group led by an aircraft carrier will arrive in your theatre of action soon. You must establish direct contact with the French and work with them as with allies,” Mr Putin told the commander of the missile cruiser Moskva, deployed off Syria, speaking from Russia’s space-age National Defence Control Centre.
“以一艘航母爲首的法國海軍戰鬥羣將要抵達你部的戰區。你部必須與法方建立直接聯繫，把他們當作盟軍一樣開展合作，”普京從俄羅斯先進的國防控制中心(National Defence Control Centre)對部署在敘利亞海岸外的“莫斯科號”(Moskva)導彈巡洋艦的指揮官表示。
Russia also said it would step up its Syrian bombing campaign.
俄羅斯還表示，將加大在敘利亞境內的轟炸力度。
The moves came just hours after Russia’s FSB intelligence service acknowledged that the Russian Airbus which crashed over Egypt on October 31 had been brought down by a bomb.
採取這些行動的數小時前，俄羅斯聯邦安全局(FSB)承認，10月31日俄羅斯一架空客(Airbus)客機在埃及墜毀是一個炸彈裝置所致。
They also came after Mr Hollande a day earlier echoed Mr Putin’s calls for an anti-terror “coalition” in an address to parliament members.
此外，就在一天前，奧朗德在法國議會發表講話時，呼應了普京對於建立反恐“聯盟”的呼籲。
“There must be a union of all those who truly want to fight against this terrorist army as part of one big coalition,” Mr Hollande said. “It’s with this goal in mind that I will meet in the coming days President Obama and President Putin to join forces and achieve a result that has been postponed for too long.”
“所有那些真正想與這支恐怖主義軍隊作戰的力量，必須作爲一個大聯盟的一部分凝聚成一股力量，”奧朗德表示，“我在未來幾天會晤奧巴馬總統和普京總統時，將銘記這個目標，以便聯合起來，取得一個已經拖延太久的結果。”
Friday’s terrorist outrages in Paris appeared to be changing attitudes, with the west prepared to put to one side its differences with Moscow over Ukraine.
上週五巴黎遭遇恐怖主義暴行似乎在改變各方態度，西方準備擱置其在烏克蘭問題上與莫斯科方面的分歧。
At the weekend’s G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, Mr Putin was not shunned as last year, but held bilateral meetings with German chancellor Angela Merkel, US president Barack Obama and UK premier David Cameron.
在上週末於土耳其安塔利亞(Antalya)舉行的20國集團(G20)峯會上，普京沒有像去年那樣遭到冷遇，而是與德國總理安格拉·默克爾(Angela Merkel)、美國總統巴拉克·奧巴馬(Barack Obama)和英國首相戴維·卡梅倫(David Cameron)都舉行了雙邊會談。
Moscow’s acknowledgment that the Russian Metrojet crash in Sinai killing all 224 aboard was the result of a “homemade explosive device” was a cue for Mr Putin to announce his determination to bring “retribution” to the culprits, echoing Mr Hollande’s language on protecting citizens at home.
莫斯科方面承認，該國Metrojet航空公司客機在西奈半島墜毀、導致機上所有224人遇難的事件是一個“自制爆炸裝置”所致。這給了普京一個由頭，讓他順理成章地宣佈決心“報復”元兇，呼應了奧朗德關於保護本國公民的言論。
Observers in Russia believe Moscow considered stepping up its Syria campaign once it was certain the Metrojet crash had been a terror attack — probably when Mr Putin ordered all flights to Egypt suspended 10 days ago — but then seized upon the shift in sentiment in Europe triggered by the Paris attacks.
俄羅斯觀察家相信，莫斯科方面早在其確信Metrojet空難是一起恐怖襲擊之後，就考慮加大在敘利亞的戰鬥力度——很可能在10天前普京下令暫停所有埃及航班的時候就已如此——但隨後抓住了巴黎恐襲在歐洲引發的情緒。
“The Russians were looking for signs that the western countries, starting with France, are becoming more amenable to co-operating with Russia, and... letting [Syrian president Bashar al-]Assad stay around at least for a while,” said Dmitri Trenin, head of the Carnegie Moscow Center, an arm of the US think-tank.
“俄羅斯方面在尋覓這樣的跡象：從法國開始，西方國家變得更願意與俄羅斯合作，同時……也更願意讓（敘利亞總統巴沙爾·）阿薩德(Bashar al-Assad)至少再掌權一陣子，”美國智庫卡內基(Carnegie)的分支卡內基莫斯科中心(Carnegie Moscow Center)主任德米特里礠列寧(Dmitri Trenin)表示。
Before the assaults that killed 129 on Friday in the French capital, Paris had started air strikes in Syria targeting camps suspected of sheltering plotters against France. But it refused to join the coalition led by the US and the Gulf states because it was not backed by the UN.
上週五法國首都遭遇恐怖襲擊、導致129人遇難之前，巴黎方面已經開始空襲敘利亞境內的目標，打擊被懷疑窩藏策劃對法國發起恐襲的恐怖分子的營地。但法國拒絕加入由美國和海灣國家領導的聯盟，因爲它沒有得到聯合國的支持。
Paris, like the US, has also criticised Russia’s bombing in Syria for targeting the moderate opposition to Mr Assad, not Isis, and differed with Moscow over its insistence on Mr Assad’s departure as part of any political transition. But the French strategy has come under pressure following the terrorist attacks.
和美國一樣，法國還批評俄羅斯轟炸敘利亞境內反對阿薩德的溫和反對派勢力，而不是ISIS，並在堅持要求阿薩德走人作爲政治過渡的一部分這一點上與莫斯科方面意見分歧。但在遭遇恐怖襲擊後，法國的策略受到壓力。
