【英语国际】美俄力图控制间谍事件的外交影响

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday criticized U.S. law enforcement, even as his government acknowledged that its citizens were among the 11 people that U.S. authorities charged were part of a long-running spy operation.

Both Mr. Putin and U.S. officials voiced hopes that the brewing scandal would not harm relations between the two countries, and there was no sign in Moscow of the kind of tit-for-tat action that a deeper diplomatic rift would imply.

Still, the emergence of an alleged cell of secret agents reporting back to handlers in Moscow undercut the Obama administration's claim of improved ties with Moscow as part of a 'reset' of U.S.-Russia relations.

President Barack Obama last week took Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to his favorite hamburger joint, which turned out to be just blocks from the Arlington, Va., apartment building where one of the alleged Russian secret agents lived.

'I do not believe this will affect the resetting of our relationship with Russia,' White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said at a briefing in Washington.

He said Mr. Obama was aware of the alleged spy ring, but the president didn't discuss the topic in face-to-face meetings last week with Mr. Medvedev.

Russian and U.S. officials on Tuesday attempted to limit the potential diplomatic fallout from the episode. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the arrests an unjustified throwback to the Cold War, while the State Department said the case was part of an evolving U.S.-Russia relationship in which the two countries didn't always agree.

Russian officials called on American authorities to give their citizens access to Russian consular officials and lawyers, and to take into account the 'positive character' of U.S.-Russian ties in dealing with the case.

Ten of the suspects, mostly Russians, were arrested in recent days in several U.S. cities. The 11th person, whom U.S. authorities alleged was a ringleader purporting to be a Canadian named Christopher Metsos, was taken into custody Tuesday by police in Cyprus. He was released on bond, despite U.S. concerns that he might flee.

Many Russian officials and analysts said they presumed that hawkish elements within the U.S. government had engineered and timed the arrests to embarrass President Obama and undermine the 'reset.' Mr. Putin echoed that concern during a meeting at his residence outside Moscow with former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

'Back at your home, the police went out of control [and] are throwing people in jail,' Mr. Putin said. 'But that's the kind of job they have,' he added, drawing a laugh from Mr. Clinton when he heard the translation.

'I hope that all the positive gains that have been achieved in our relationship will not be damaged by the recent event,' Mr. Putin added.

Alexander Torshin, a deputy speaker of the Russian parliament's upper house, said he thought the damage would be limited.

'It's not a return to the Cold War, and I'm sure that this incident won't develop into a large-scale spy scandal,' he told Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti news agency.

Nikokai Kovalyov, former chief of the Federal Security Service, the main KGB successor agency, told the ITAR-Tass news agency that he believed Russia would retaliate only if the U.S. went a step further and expelled Russian diplomats.

俄罗斯总理普京(Vladimir Putin)周二指责美国的执法部门，尽管他的政府承认，据美国有关部门指控曾参与一项长期间谍活动的11人中有俄罗斯公民。

普京和美方官员都表达了不让这起不断发酵的丑闻损害两国关系的希望。另外，在莫斯科，也看不出有象征着激烈外交摩擦的那种报复行为的迹象。

Sipa Press受到指控的Anna Chapman但是，在奥巴马政府声称美俄关系在“重置”过程中得到改善之际，一群被指向位于莫斯科的操纵者报告的特工浮出水面，让这种说法大打折扣。

美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)上周请俄罗斯总统梅德韦杰夫(Dmitry Medvedev)到他最喜欢的汉堡店吃饭，结果离这个店仅几个街区之外，就是这批所谓俄罗斯特工中的一位在弗吉尼亚阿灵顿住过的公寓楼。

白宫发言人吉布斯(Robert Gibbs)在华盛顿的一场吹风会上说，我认为这不会影响我们与俄罗斯关系的重置。

他说，上周与梅德韦杰夫面谈时，奥巴马知晓这个所谓的间谍团伙，但没有讨论这个话题。

俄罗斯和美国官员周二力图控制这起事件的潜在外交影响。俄罗斯外交部称这起事件是向冷战的不合理倒退，美国国务院(State Department)则说，美俄关系不断变化，两国并不总是一致，事件是这种关系的一部分。

俄罗斯官员呼吁美国有关部门允许其公民见到领馆官员和律师，并在处理这起案件时考虑到美俄关系的“积极特征”。

有10位嫌疑人是近些日子在美国多个城市被捕的，其中多为俄罗斯人。第11人在周二被塞浦路斯警方拘押，美国当局说，此人是一个团伙带头人，他自己声称是加拿大人、名叫克利斯托弗•梅措(Christopher Metsos)。尽管美国担心他可能逃逸，但他在交纳保释金后还是被释放。

很多俄罗斯官员和分析人士说，他们猜测，美国政府内部的强硬元素促成了逮捕这些人的行为及其时机安排，是为了让奥巴马丢失颜面，并削弱美俄关系的“重置”。普京在莫斯科郊外住所会见美国前总统克林顿(Bill Clinton)期间也呼应了这种担忧。

普京说，在你的国家，警察失去了控制，正把人往监狱里扔，但那就是他们的工作。克林顿听到翻译后大笑。

普京还说，我希望，我们关系取得的所有进步不会因为最近这起事件而受损。

俄罗斯上议院代理议长托尔申(Alexander Torshin)说，他认为负面影响将是有限的。

他对官办的俄罗斯新闻社(RIA Novosti)说，这不是向冷战的回归，我肯定这起事件不会演变成一场大规模的间谍丑闻。

俄罗斯联邦安全局前局长科瓦廖夫(Nikokai Kovalyov)对俄通社-塔斯社(ITAR-Tass)说，他相信，只有在美国采取进一步措施、驱逐俄罗斯外交官的情况下，俄罗斯才会采取报复措施。联邦安全局是苏联国家安全委员会（克格勃）的主要继承机构。