据《华尔街日报》(Wall Street Journal)的一篇报道,自俄乌战争以来,因运输武器和其他物资而受到美国制裁的俄罗斯货船经常停靠土耳其港口,这很可能是在加强其军事行动。
这篇独家报道引用了航运记录,并指出,自2022年5月以来,这些受制裁的俄罗斯船只在土耳其港口停靠了100多次,这些靠泊仍在继续。
其中一些船只进行了维修和保养,或接受了美国制裁所禁止的服务。这增加了一种可能性,即华盛顿可能还会对某些帮助俄罗斯的土耳其企业施加限制,从而影响西方限制俄罗斯军事支持的努力。
美国财政部的一位官员表示:“俄罗斯正在尽一切努力,秘密获取战争所需的物资。”
《华尔街日报》还表示,直到现在,还没有报道过受制裁的俄罗斯船只在多大程度上依赖土耳其沿岸的港口。
美国向包括土耳其在内的一些国家施压,要求它们帮助切断俄罗斯的军事供应网络,从而剥夺俄罗斯继续入侵乌克兰所需的武器和弹药。然而,土耳其总统利用这场冲突,通过扩大与俄罗斯的贸易,增加了土耳其在黑海的影响力。
他甚至促成了一项通过黑海运输乌克兰谷物的协议,并提出促进俄罗斯和乌克兰之间的和平谈判。
这些事态发展可能会使土美关系紧张,尤其是在美国寻求土耳其批准瑞典加入北约的时候。据《华尔街日报》报道,这一要求可能与拟议向土耳其出售200亿美元的新型F-16战机有关。
土耳其外交部前国际安全事务主任Alper cokun表示,“由于埃尔多安和普京之间的关系以及土耳其对俄罗斯采取的姿态,土耳其不希望被视为对俄罗斯的制裁非常强硬。”
报告提到,受制裁的俄罗斯船只在土耳其黑海沿岸、地中海和马尔马拉海沿岸的二十多个港口停靠。
一些船只前往埃及、伊朗和叙利亚。不过,俄罗斯和土耳其政府都没有回应《华尔街日报》的置评请求。
《华尔街日报》的报道称,自乌克兰入侵以来,俄罗斯从土耳其采购了钢铁、汽车零部件和电子产品等物品,为其军队提供助力。
莫斯科巧妙地依靠民用货船运输其军事必需品,从而绕过了土耳其一项管辖土耳其海峡的国际条约对俄罗斯和乌克兰军舰实施的进入黑海的禁令。
此外,伊拉克、约旦和土耳其对俄罗斯的军用飞机实施了限制,从而降低了俄罗斯在叙利亚基地之间运送装备和部队的能力。
报告指出,使用民用船只运输军用物资已经变得很普遍,美国国务院和财政部已经确定并制裁了这些公司。
据《华尔街日报》报道,尽管土耳其的一些企业和机构屈服于华盛顿阻止俄罗斯逃避制裁的压力,但自埃尔多安连任以来,至少有四艘受制裁的俄罗斯船只访问了土耳其港口。
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英文原文
Russia cargo vessels under U.S. sanctions for shipping weapons and other supplies have been regularly stopping at Turkish ports since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, most likely bolstering its military campaign, per a report by the Wall Street Journal or WSJ.
This exclusive report cited shipping records and stated that these sanctioned Russian ships had made more than 100 stops at Turkish ports since May 2022 and that these visits still continue.
Some of these vessels underwent repairs and maintenance or received services barred under U.S. sanctions. This has raised the probability that Washington might also impose restrictions on certain Turkish businesses for aiding Russia and affecting the Western efforts to limit Russia’s military support.
An official from the U.S. Treasury Department said, “Russia is making every attempt to surreptitiously acquire material to supply its war efforts.”
The WSJ also stated that the extent to which sanctioned Russian ships relied on ports along the Turkish coast had not been reported until now.
The United States has pressurised nations, including Turkey, to aid in severing Russia’s military supply network so that Russia is deprived of arms and munitions to continue its invasion of Ukraine. However, the Turkish President used this conflict to increase Turkish influence in the Black Sea by expanding trade with Russia.
He even facilitated an agreement for transporting Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea and offered to facilitate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
These developments could strain Turkey-US relations, especially when the U.S. seeks Turkish approval for Sweden’s membership in NATO. According to a WSJ report, this request might be connected to a proposed $20 billion sale of new F-16 warplanes to Turkey.
Alper Coşkun, former director for international security affairs at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, said, “Because of the rapport between Erdogan and Putin and the posture Turkey’s taking on Russia, Turkey doesn’t want to be seen to be very hard-nosed about these sanctions against Russia.”
The report mentioned that sanctioned Russian vessels stopped at two dozen ports along the Turkish black sea coast, the Mediterranean and the Sea of Marmara coasts.
Some ships made journeys to Egypt, Iran and also Syria. However, neither the Russian nor Turkish governments have responded to requests by WSJ for a comment about these port calls.
The WSJ report states Russia has procured items from Turkey to fuel its military, like steel, vehicle parts and electronics, since the Ukraine invasion began.
Moscow has cleverly relied on civilian cargo vessels for transporting its military necessities, thus surpassing a ban imposed by Turkey on Russian and Ukrainian warships from entering the Black Sea, per an international treaty that governs the Turkish Straits.
Also, Iraq, Jordon and Turkey put restrictions on Russian military flights, thus reducing its ability to transport equipment and troops to and from its bases in Syria.
The report stated that using civilian ships for transporting military supplies has become common, and the U.S. State and Treasury Departments have identified and sanctioned these companies.
Although a few businesses and agencies in Turkey have succumbed to the pressure from Washington to prevent Russia from evading sanctions, at least four sanctioned Russian vessels have visited Turkish ports since Erdogan’s re-election, per the WSJ report.
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