当地时间5月18日，芬兰和瑞典两国驻北约大使在布鲁塞尔向北约秘书长斯托尔滕贝格提交加入北约的申请文件。此前，斯托尔滕贝格表示，瑞典和芬兰的加入申请将“受到欢迎”，相关审批进程也将被加速。对此，俄罗斯、土耳其相继做出表态。
Sweden and Finland are not already members of NATO because both considered that joining the alliance would represent an unnecessary provocation of Moscow, and so have long pursued policies of neutrality, and then non-alignment, to avoid antagonising a major regional power.
瑞典和芬兰不是北约成员，是因为两国曾认为，加入北约意味着对莫斯科不必要的挑衅。因此两国长期以来一直奉行中立和不结盟政策，以避免与一个地区大国对立。
（英文摘自2022. 05. 12 The Guardian 网站）
Finland shares a 1,300-km (810-mile) border with Russia. Until now, it has stayed out of Nato to avoid antagonising its eastern neighbour.
芬兰与俄罗斯有着1300公里（810英里）的边界。到目前为止，芬兰一直没有加入北约，以避免与这个东部邻国形成对立局面。
（英文摘自2022. 05. 13 BBC News 网站）
Sweden and Finland have provided refuge to members of Kurdish militant separatist organization the PKK, which Turkey classifies as a terrorist organization and which has carried out attacks in Turkey.
瑞典和芬兰为库尔德激进分离主义组织库尔德工人党的成员提供庇护，土耳其将该组织列为恐怖组织。
（英文摘自 2022. 05. 17 CNBC 网站）
Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking with Turkish reporters after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin, said Turkey was not threatening anybody or seeking leverage but speaking out especially about Sweden's support for the PKK Kurdish militant group.
土耳其外交部长卡武索格鲁在柏林举行的北约外长会议后对土耳其记者说，土耳其没有威胁任何人或寻求影响力，只是特别就瑞典对库尔德工人党武装组织的支持发表意见。
（英文摘自 2022. 05. 15 FRANCE 24 网站）
▲图片来源于NATO网站
NATO’s leverage will also extend north, to the new strategic prize of the Arctic, as Sweden and Finland join the alliance.
随着瑞典和芬兰的加入，北约的影响力也将向北延伸，进入新的战略要地—北极。
（英文摘自 2022. 05. 17 The Washington Post 网站）
Europe's recognition of the leverage Moscow enjoys and the accompanying financial contributions to Moscow's war effort is placing greater restrictions on the importation of hydrocarbons from Moscow.
欧洲意识到到莫斯科具有的影响力，以及对俄乌冲突的财政指出，开始对从莫斯科进口碳氢化合物采取更大的限制措施。
（英文摘自 2022. 05. 13 EUOBSERVER 网站）
The prospect of Finland and Sweden joining the 30 member-states was hypothetical last autumn, when Moscow issued the ultimatum demanding that NATO curtail its activities in Eastern Europe.
当莫斯科去年秋天向北约发出最后通牒，要求削减其在东欧的活动时，芬兰和瑞典的加入还只是假想。
（英文摘自 2022. 05. 16 Peace Research Institute Oslo 网站）
In the southeastern port town of Mariupol, surrounded and besieged by Russian forces for weeks, Russia has given the last bastion of Ukrainian defenders an ultimatum to surrender or die as they close the net on the city.
东南部的港口城市马里乌波尔已经被俄罗斯军队包围了数周，俄罗斯向在仅存堡垒中的乌克兰守军发出了最后通牒，当俄军对城市进行收网时，他们只有投降或死亡。
（英文摘自 2022. 04. 19 Foreign Policy 网站）
▲图片来源于 Crescent International 网站
The Russian armed forces outgun and outnumber the Ukrainian forces, which have no nuclear weapons. Therefore, one wonders why Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to put his nuclear forces on high alert if this is not a strategy to“escalate to de-escalate”.
俄罗斯武装力量的武器和人数都超过了乌克兰军队，而乌克兰军队没有核武器。因此，人们不禁要问，俄罗斯总统普京需要将其核力量置于高度警戒状态，是不是一个将局势“先升后降”的策略？
（英文摘自 2022. 03. 16 SCMP 网站）
Myanmar expert said that Russia and Ukraine could have negotiated in order to de-escalate and calm the conflict, but the U.S.-led NATO kept intensifying the conflict and worsening the situation by sending weapons to Ukraine, sanctioning Russia and many other ways.
缅甸专家认为俄罗斯和乌克兰本可以通过谈判来缓解并平息冲突，但以美国为首的北约却通过向乌克兰运送武器、制裁俄罗斯和其他许多方式不断激化冲突，使局势恶化。
（英文摘自 2022. 05. 15 CGTN 网站）
Russia expels two Finnish diplomats in tit-for-tat move.
俄罗斯以牙还牙，驱逐两名芬兰外交官。
（英文摘自 2022. 05. 17 Reuters 网站）
There are also the international conflicts: the protracted war in Yemen, tit-for-tat attacks on shipping in the Arabian and Red Seas, and the three-quarters of a century long confrontation between India and Pakistan.
那里有着诸多国际冲突点，如：也门旷日持久的战争，阿拉伯海和红海上针锋相对的航运袭击，以及印度和巴基斯坦之间长达四分之三世纪的对峙。
（英文摘自 2022. 04. 25 The National 网站）
编辑：蒋绍澄 核稿：许馨匀 韩桦
