北約衛星圖像顯示俄在烏克蘭邊境屯兵四萬

NATO has released satellite photographs showing what it says are 40,000 Russian troops massed near the Ukraine border, along with tanks, aircraft and other hardware said to be awaiting orders from Moscow.

The imagery, released to news outlets Wednesday, follows repeated Russian assurances that the deployment is no cause for interNational alarm.

That satellite intelligence comes as the government in Kyiv seeks to defuse tensions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian protesters seized control of government buildings earlier this week and issued demands for a vote on joining the Russian Federation.

However, several surveys, including a poll released Wednesday, have found that residents of the key eastern city of Donetsk overwhelmingly oppose any move to join Russia. That survey, conducted March 26-29 in conjunction with Donetsk National University, showed less than 27 percent of city residents supporting the building seizures, and only 4 percent wanting to separate from Ukraine.

A poll conducted by the Gallup organization in conjunction with the International Republican Institute found just 4 percent of respondents favoring secession. That survey was released April 5.

The White House says President Barack Obama conferred with German Chancellor Angela Merkel by phone Thursday, and that both leaders again called on Moscow to pull back its troops from the border regions.北約公佈的衛星圖像顯示，在烏克蘭邊界附近有北約所說的整裝待命的4萬俄羅斯軍隊，還有坦克、飛機和其他軍事裝備。

這些衛星圖像是星期四向各大媒體公佈的。此前，俄羅斯不斷保證，國際社會不必爲這些部隊感到驚慌。

與此同時，基輔政府正在尋求化解東烏克蘭的緊張局勢，那裏的親俄抗議者本週早些時候佔領了政府辦公樓，並要求爲加入俄羅斯聯邦舉行公投。

不過，包括星期三公佈的幾個民調都顯示，東部主要城市頓涅茨克的居民絕大多數都反對採取加入俄羅斯的任何行動。 民調公司與頓涅茨克國立大學共同進行的這次民調顯示，頓涅茨克不到27%的居民支持佔領政府辦公樓，希望脫離烏克蘭的人也只有4%。

蓋洛普和國際共和研究所一起進行的民調顯示， 只有4%的受訪者贊成分裂。這項調查結果公佈於4月5日。

白宮說，奧巴馬總統星期四通過電話與德國總理默克爾進行磋商。奧巴馬和默克爾再次敦促莫斯科從烏克蘭邊境地區撤軍。