President Vladimir Putin has bluntly warned the US and its allies not to arm opposition rebels in Syria, reasserting Russia’s uncompromising support for Bashar al-Assad’s regime and declaring Moscow backs the “legitimate” government.

俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)直白地向美国及其盟国们发出警告，不要向叙利亚的反政府武装提供武器。他重申俄罗斯对巴沙尔•阿萨德(Bashar al-Assad)政权的坚定支持，宣称俄罗斯方面支持“合法”政府。

As world leaders prepare to attend the G8 summit in Northern Ireland today, Barack Obama, US president, hopes Russia will reconsider its backing for Mr Assad, as Washington provides new evidence the regime has used chemical weapons against opponents.

在各国领导人准备参加今日在北爱尔兰举行的八国集团(G8)峰会之际，美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)希望，鉴于美国政府拿出新的证据，证明阿萨德政权曾对反对派使用化学武器，俄罗斯会重新考虑其对阿萨德的支持。

But, after talks with David Cameron, prime minister and the summit’s host, in Downing Street yesterday, Mr Putin showed little sign of compromising on Syria. He said Russia was “supplying arms to the legitimate government of Syria in line with international law.”

然而，昨日在唐宁街(Downing Street)与此次峰会东道主、英国首相戴维•卡梅伦(David Cameron)会谈之后，普京几乎没有显示要在叙利亚问题上妥协的任何迹象。他表示，俄罗斯“是按照国际法为叙利亚的合法政府提供武器”。

Mr Putin directly attacked the decision by Mr Obama last week to deliver arms to the rebels in Syria to tilt the battlefield away from the regime and try to force it to the negotiating table.

为了使战场局势不利于阿萨德政权，迫使其回到谈判桌上，奥巴马上周决定向叙利亚反政府武装提供武器。普京直接抨击了这一决定。

At one point in his press conference, Mr Putin referred to video footage recently shown on the internet of one rebel fighter eating what appeared to be the heart of a government soldier. “I think you will not deny that one does not really need to support people who not only kill their enemies, but open up their bodies, eat their intestines, in front of the public and cameras.”

在新闻发布会上，普京提到最近出现在互联网上的一段视频。在视频中，一名叛军士兵似乎在吃政府军士兵的心脏。普京表示：“我想你们不会否认，不仅杀死敌人、还在公众和摄像机面前把敌人开膛破肚并吃掉内脏的人，是不那么值得支持的。”

He added: “Are these the people you want to support? Is it them who you want to supply with weapons? Then this probably has little relation to the humanitarian values that have been preached in Europe for hundreds of years.”

他补充表示：“这就是你们想支持的人吗？你们要提供武器的就是他们吗？那么，这很可能与欧洲倡导了几百年的人道主义价值观关系不大。”

Mr Cameron said he would use the G8 summit to try to make progress on Syria, aiming to get a conference held that would bring all parties to the negotiating table. But he lowered expectations Britain was to start arming opposition groups.

卡梅伦表示，他会利用八国集团峰会的机会，努力推动国际社会在叙利亚问题上取得进展，目标是促成一场让各方坐上谈判桌的会议。但他在英国将开始为叙反政府武装组织提供武器方面降低了期望。

While Syria will be one of the main items at the G8, Mr Cameron is also using the summit to preside over the launch of EU-US trade negotiations.

尽管叙利亚问题将是八国峰会上的主要话题之一，但卡梅伦也将利用此次峰会启动欧盟(EU)与美国的贸易谈判。

Meanwhile, Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, is urging the gathering to initiate a deeper debate on tax harmonisation: “Today’s rules are fiendishly complicated and everyone would benefit from a simpler, more transparent system,” Mr Schmidt writes in today’s FT.

与此同时，谷歌(Google)执行董事长埃里克•施密特(Eric Schmidt)正敦促此次峰会就统一税收启动更深层次的辩论。他在今日的英国《金融时报》上撰文称：“如今的规则极其复杂，一个更简单、更透明的体制将对大家都有利。”