International monitors could begin inspecting Syria’s chemical weapons as soon as Tuesday after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Friday night that demands their eradication.

联合国(UN)安理会(Security Council)周五晚通过了一项要求叙利亚销毁化学武器的决议。联合国核查员最早可能从周二开始对叙利亚的化学武器进行检查。

The unanimous vote by the 15-member Security Council follows several weeks of tough negotiations between the US and Russia, and presents a rare diplomatic breakthrough at the UN over Syria. However, it stops short of threatening automatic penalties if the Syrian regime fails to hand over its chemical weapons.

美国与俄罗斯艰难谈判数周之后，15个安理会成员国一致投票赞成上述决议，这是联合国在叙利亚问题上的一次罕见的外交突破。不过，该决议并没有规定，如果叙利亚政府拒绝交出化学武器，将自动引发惩罚措施。

Under the adoption of the new resolution, Syria now faces a legal obligation to give up its chemical weapons, but the UN must pass a second resolution if it is to enforce any of the possible penalties, which include sanctions or military force.

安理会新决议通过之后，叙利亚目前在法律上负有放弃化学武器的义务，但如果联合国打算保留对叙利亚施加任何惩罚（包括制裁或军事行动）的权利，那么它还必须通过一份新决议。

Although the text of the resolution will raise questions about whether the Assad regime will feel compelled to comply, the agreement at the UN in New York represents a striking turnround for the Obama administration, which only three weeks ago had been facing the possible humiliation of Congressional defeat over its plan to launch air strikes against the Syrian regime in response to the August 21 chemical weapons attack in Damascus.

尽管上述决议的内容令人怀疑阿萨德(Assad)政府是否会感到必须遵守它，但这份在纽约达成的联合国协议标志着奥巴马(Obama)政府的重大政策转折。仅三周前，奥巴马政府还有可能受到国会羞辱，因为其对阿萨德政权发动空袭的计划可能被国会否决。该计划是奥巴马政府针对8月21日发生在大马士革的化学武器攻击而提出的。

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said after the vote that the big powers hoped to hold a peace conference on Syria in mid-November in Geneva.

上述决议在安理会投票通过之后，联合国秘书长潘基文(Ban Ki-moon)表示，几个大国希望于今年11月在日内瓦举行一次有关叙利亚问题的和平会议。

He told the Security Council: “As we mark this important step, we must never forget that the catalogue of horrors in Syria continues with bombs and tanks, grenades and guns. A red light for one form of weapons does not mean a green light for others.”

潘基文在联合国安理会表示：“我们在庆祝这一重要进展时，一定不能忘记，叙利亚还存在炸弹、坦克、手榴弹与枪支等各种威胁。一种武器受到禁止，不意味着其他武器可以随意使用。”

US secretary of state John Kerry said the vote showed that “actions have consequences”.

美国国务卿约翰•克里(John Kerry)表示，投票结果表明，“（叙利亚）行动是会带来后果的”。

“Our original objective was to degrade and deter Syria’s chemical weapons capability. And the option of military force that President Obama has kept on the table could have achieved that. But tonight’s resolution accomplishes even more – through peaceful means, it will for the first time seek to eliminate entirely a nation’s chemical weapons capability,” he said.

他说：“我们最初的目标是降低并遏制叙利亚的化学武器能力。奥巴马总统一直未排除军事打击可能性的做法，可能帮我们做到了这一点。但是，今晚通过的决议取得了更大的成果。决议将首次尝试通过和平手段彻底消除一国的化学武器能力。”

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said the Security Council would be prepared to take punitive steps in the event of confirmed violations of the resolution by either side in the conflict.

俄罗斯外长谢尔盖•拉夫罗夫(Sergei Lavrov)表示，倘若有证据证实叙利亚冲突中任何一方明确违反决议，联合国必将采取惩罚性措施。