The US and EU on Thursday implored president Viktor Yanukovich to pull Ukraine away from the brink of civil war after clashes between anti-government protesters and police killed 70 people in the bloodiest day in the country’s modern history.		美国和欧盟(EU)周四呼吁乌克兰总统维克多?亚努科维奇(Viktor Yanukovich)将该国从内战边缘拉回来。此前乌克兰反政府示威者与警方发生冲突，导致70人丧生，酿成该国现代历史上最为血腥的一天。
EU ministers agreed to impose sanctions including visa bans and asset freezes against Ukrainian officials linked to the violence “in light of the deteriorating situation”. The US urged Mr Yanukovich to withdraw security forces from the Ukrainian capital.		“鉴于局势日益恶化”，欧盟各国外长同意对涉及暴力行动的乌克兰官员采取制裁措施，包括签证限制和资产冻结。美国敦促亚努科维奇将安全部队撤离乌克兰首都。
Jay Carney, White House spokesman, said Washington was “outraged” by images of security forces firing automatic weapons at protesters, in by far the deadliest fighting in three months of protests against Mr Yanukovich’s rule.		白宫发言人杰伊?卡尼(Jay Carney)表示，华盛顿对安全部队用自动武器向示威者开火的画面“感到愤慨”，这是针对亚努科维奇统治的抗议活动爆发3个月以来最血腥的冲突。
Ukraine’s government and protesters each blamed the other side for sparking the violence hours after a truce was announced. Opposition leaders feared Mr Yanukovich might use the clashes as a pretext for sending in the army to crush the protests in a move that would threaten to split the country.		在宣布停火协议数小时后，乌克兰政府和示威者分别指责对方引燃了暴力对抗。反对派领导人担心，亚努科维奇可能以冲突为借口，出动军队镇压抗议活动，此举可能导致国家分裂。
But it was unclear if Ukraine’s military would be prepared to take up arms against their own people. There were also signs that Mr Yanukovich’s power base might be cracking.		但目前尚不清楚，乌克兰军方是否准备对本国人民开火。也有迹象表明，亚努科维奇的权力基础可能在崩溃。
Mr Yanukovich’s parliamentary majority appeared under threat amid reports that at least 10 MPs were defecting from the pro-presidential Regions party. In a public blow, the president’s handpicked choice as head of the Kiev city administration resigned from the party.		亚努科维奇在议会中的多数席位地位似乎正受到威胁，因为有报道称，至少10名议员从支持总统的“地区党”(Regions)叛变。亚努科维奇精心挑选的基辅市长宣布退出地区党，这是对亚努科维奇的公开打击。
The rapidly worsening situation in the 46m-strong country at the heart of Europe has reawakened Cold War rivalries. It now poses the biggest security threat to the continent since Russia’s five-day war with Georgia in 2008.		乌克兰位于欧洲大陆中心位置，拥有4600万人口。该国局势迅速恶化让人们想起了冷战时代的对抗。这对欧洲大陆构成自2008年俄罗斯与格鲁吉亚的“5日战争”以来最为严重的安全威胁。
Moscow has blamed the mayhem on interference by the west after the EU offered Kiev a far-reaching integration agreement. Mr Yanukovich’s last-minute decision in November to reject that agreement and accept $15bn in financial support from Russia sparked the protests.		莫斯科指责此次骚乱是西方干涉造成的。欧盟曾向乌克兰提供一份影响深远的一体化协议，去年11月亚努科维奇在最后一刻拒绝了该协议，转而接受俄罗斯提供的150亿美元财务支持，这引发了大规模抗议。
Senior Russian officials have urged Mr Yanukovich to use force to crush the demonstrations. Ukraine’s president interrupted a five-hour meeting on Thursday with the French, German and Polish foreign ministers to take a call from Russian president Vladimir Putin.		俄罗斯高官敦促亚努科维奇动用武力镇压示威活动。周四，亚努科维奇中断了一场与法国、德国和波兰外长举行的持续5个小时的会议，接听俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔?普京(Vladimir Putin)打来的电话。
The three envoys later left the meeting for talks with opposition leaders to “test” a proposed compromise agreement discussed with the president.		这三位外交官后来离开会场，前去与反对派领导人举行会谈，“测试”与亚努科维奇讨论的一份妥协协议。
Donald Tusk, Polish premier, said the EU had proposed early parliamentary and presidential elections this year and constitutional changes, but it was far from clear that the plan had any chance of success.		波兰总理唐纳德?图斯克(Donald Tusk)表示，欧盟提议今年提前举行议会和总统大选，并修改宪法，但目前远不清楚该计划是否有成功的可能性。
Russia, meanwhile, said it was sending its own mediator, former human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin, to Kiev.		与此同时，俄罗斯表示，将派出自己的调解人、前人权调查官弗拉基米尔?卢金(Vladimir Lukin)前往基辅。