美國發飆 擴大對俄羅斯制裁

President Barack Obama retaliated against Russia’s annexation of Crimea by slapping sanctions on some of President Vladimir Putin’s closest associates and a Russian bank linked to the blacklisted individuals.

美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)週四又對俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾•普京(Vladimir Putin)的一些親信和一家與列入黑名單者有關的俄羅斯銀行實施了制裁，以報復俄羅斯吞併克里米亞的行動。

As EU leaders met in Brussels to consider their own expanded list of visa bans and asset freezes, Mr Obama said the US was moving to “impose additional costs on Moscow” for its actions in Ukraine, sanctioning more senior officials and “other individuals with substantial resources and influence who provide material support to the Russian leadership”.

隨着歐盟領導人在布魯塞爾會面，商討擴大歐洲自己的財產凍結和簽證禁令名單，奧巴馬錶示美國要讓莫斯科爲自己在烏克蘭的行動“付出更多代價”，將制裁更多高官和“有可觀資源和影響力、向俄羅斯領導層提供物質支持的其他個人”。

He added that he was using his executive powers to draw up more sweeping economic sanctions to counter “dangerous risks of escalation”.

奧巴馬補充稱，他是在運用自己的行政權力，通過制定更全面的經濟制裁方案，來遏制“事態升級的危險”。

“This is not our preferred outcome,” he said. “These sanctions will not only have a significant impact on the Russian economy, but could be disruptive to the global economy.”

奧巴馬錶示：“這不是我們希望看到的結果，這些制裁措施不僅將對俄羅斯經濟構成沉重打擊，還可能干擾全球經濟運行。”

Moscow responded by barring nine US officials from entering Russia, including senators and administration officials.

莫斯科方面對此的迴應是，禁止九名美國官員入境俄羅斯，其中包括美國國會參議員以及政府官員。

The sanctions prompted Standard & Poor’s, the rating agency, to revise its outlook for Russian debt down to negative from stable, citing “rising geopolitical and economic risks”.

受以上制裁措施影響，評級機構標準普爾(Standard & Poor's)將對俄羅斯主權信用的展望評級由之前的“穩定”調降至“負面”，稱主要原因在於“地緣政治和經濟風險上升”。