The Bush administration is denying media reports that it is ordering Belarus to close its embassy in Washington as well as its consulate in New York, but is not ruling out such actions in the future.
布什政府否认媒体有关美国下令让白俄罗斯关闭其驻华盛顿大使馆和驻纽约领事馆的报导。但是，布什政府表示，不排除将来采取这种行动的可能。
Amid rapidly-deteriorating relations between Minsk and Washington, recent weeks have seen Belarus scale back its diplomatic presence in the United States. In addition, the former Soviet republic has ordered roughly half of the U.S. diplomatic staff serving in Belarus to leave the country.
随着白俄罗斯和美国之间的关系迅速恶化，白俄罗斯在最近几星期里减少了在美国的外交人员。另外，这个前苏联共和国还下令让大约一半的驻白俄罗斯的美国外交人员离开白俄罗斯。
Media reports quote unnamed U.S. officials as saying the Bush administration has informed Belarus that it must close its embassy in Washington and its consulate in New York - a drastic step that would signal a break in relations between Washington and Minsk.
媒体报导援引没有透露姓名的美国官员的话说，布什政府通知白俄罗斯，要它必须关闭驻华盛顿的大使馆和驻纽约的领事馆，这一激烈步骤暗示了两国关系的破裂。
State Department spokesman Tom Casey said no such action has been taken, although he confirmed that consultations over the future of bilateral relations have been held.
美国国务院发言人凯西说，美国没有采取这样的行动，不过，他确认已经就未来双边关系的问题进行了磋商。
"We have told them that we have very serious concerns about this step that they have taken, and that means we need to think very carefully about our future and their future diplomatic presence in our respective countries. But we have not made any decisions at this point," he said.
他说：“我们已经告诉他们，我们对他们采取的行动感到深切的忧虑。那意味着我们需要仔细考虑我们两国各自在对方国家内的未来外交部署。但是，目前我们还没有作出任何决定。”
At the same time, Casey did not rule out future action.
与此同时，凯西没有排除美国在将来采取行动的可能。
"I am not saying that there will not be further action," he said. "There are probably some other shoes that will drop [developments that will materialize] in this process. But at this point we have not made a decision to formally ask them, or informally ask them, to reduce staff further."
他说：“我并不是说，我们不会采取进一步的行动。在这个过程中还可能会有其它事态发展。但是，目前我们还没有作出决定是否要正式或非正式地要求他们进一步减少外交工作人员。”
The Bush administration has been a severe critic of the government of president Alexander Lukashenko, pressuring Belarus to release political prisoners or face possible sanctions. Washington has imposed sanctions on a state-controlled petroleum and chemical processing company over Belarus' treatment of critics and dissidents.
布什政府一直严厉批评卢卡申科总统领导的白俄罗斯政府，并且向白俄罗斯施加压力，要求他们释放政治犯，否则将可能面临制裁。美国由于白俄罗斯处理批评人士和异议人士的方式而对白俄罗斯的一家由国家控制的石油化工企业实施了制裁。
Belarus has accused the United States of meddling in its internal affairs.
而白俄罗斯指责美国干涉其内政。 |