RUSSIA & UKRAINE: Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#109 :: Wednesday 3 June 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#109
Wednesday 3 June 2015
A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs
The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University.
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RUSSIA

1. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s Exclusive Interview with Bloomberg Television’s Ryan Chilcote, Moscow, June 2, 2015.
2. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview to Mezhdunarodnoye Obozreniye programme on Rossiya 24 TV channel, Moscow, 29 May 2015.
3. Government.ru: Dmitry Medvedev’s interview with Rossiya 1 TV network.
4. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, How a Top US Foreign Policy Advisor Peddles Russophobia. Financial Times article purportedly calls for a resumption of dialogue with Russia but in fact exposes the deep seated anti-Russian prejudice of the US foreign policy establishment. (re Thomas Graham, JRL #108)
5. RFE/RL: Kremlin Critic Emerges From Coma. (Vladimir Kara-Murza)
6. Interfax: Probable Nemtsov murder weapon found.
7. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Daily lambastes Russian regime’s hunt for “foreign agents” as “circus.” (Mikhail Rostovskiy)
8. TASS: Analysts: Russian government continues business-friendly policy amid crisis.
9. Moscow Times: Russia No Longer a Good Option for Foreign Banks.
10. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Proposed bill would abolish free abortions for Russian women. Russia’s parliament, or State Duma, is considering a bill that would remove abortions from free state health insurance and ban private clinics from administering them. While a majority of Russians are not in favor of abortion, critics have spoken out against the proposed law.
11. Moscow Times: Nearly 90% of Russians Oppose Polygamy, Poll Shows.
12. Russia Direct: Nikolay Pakhomov, Should Russia and US stop worrying about the phantom Chechen wedge? Too much focus on Russia’s moral-ethical debate over Chechnya obscures a much more important fact: Russia and the U.S. should be united in the fight against radical Islam.
13. Reuters: Russia keeps oil output at post-Soviet high before OPEC meet.
14. Wall Street Journal: Russia Seeks Common Ground with OPEC at Meeting. Move is the latest attempt by the two big oil producers to develop closer ties.
15. Business New Europe: Russia to continue dealing with low oil price as no Opec cuts on agenda.
16. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Pundit notes failings of Russian foreign policy over past year. (Vladislav Inozemtsev)
17. Politico.com: Zachary Karabell, What Putin Gets Right About America. FIFA’s crimes are none of our business.
18. Reuters: Russia’s Gazprom presses on with Turkey pipeline despite questions.
19. Interfax: Documentary about 1968 events passes no judgments, features historians’, witnesses’ accounts – VGTRK.
20. Reuters: Sink or sell? Russia spat leaves France with warships to spare.
21. Moscow Times: Mark Galeotti, The West Needs More Russophiles.
22. www.foreignpolicy.com: James Stavridis, What Russian Literature Tells Us About Vladimir Putin’s World. The country’s great authors put Russia’s aggression in context better than any intel briefing can.
3. Interfax: Book on Kremlin history since 12th century brought out in Russia.

UKRAINE

24. www.euractiv.com: Ukraine’s second ever gay pride march faces axe.
25. Moscow Times: MH17 Was Not Shot Down by Russian Missile – Russian Defense Firm.
26. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, BUK Manufacturer Almaz-Antey Speaks Out on MH17 Tragedy. Presentation provided by Almaz-Antey debunks SU 25 theory and points to MH17 having been shot down by a Ukrainian controlled BUK missile launched from Zaroschshenskoe.
27. Interfax: Russia air defence firm denies its MH17 claims based on fake satellite photos.
28. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, THEY’RE NOT GOING AWAY, YOU KNOW. (re Donbass)
29. TASS: DPR defense spokesman says east Ukraine shelled by Kiev troops, not by militia forces.
30. Reuters: Josh Cohen, Why investors who bet big on Ukraine should shoulder their own losses.
31. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, IMF Adrift as Kiev Sinks. IMF claims to see “signs of stabilisation” as Ukraine’s economy collapses. A bit like saying “steady as she goes” as the Titanic sinks.
32. Christian Science Monitor: Clean sweep? Ukraine cans all its bribe-hungry traffic cops. The country’s traffic police are notorious for pulling motorists over to extract bribes. Following a model that worked in Georgia, Ukraine is terminating the entire department and replacing them with new, Western-style patrol cops.
33. Sputnik: US Effort to Rebuild Ukraine Army Doomed to Fail.
34. Russia Insider: Rostislav Ishchenko, Ex-Ukrainian President Yanukovych Tried to Bargain with Puppet Master and Lost. Viktor Yanukovych tried to play both EU and Russia but the US had already decided his fate.
35. Transitions Online: Andrew Wilson, Europe’s Seven Deadly Sins. Or, seven reasons why Europe gets the Russia-Ukraine crisis wrong.