RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#151 :: Friday, 21 August 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#151 :: Friday, 21 August 2020
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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1. TASS: Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Russia to launch large-scale international trials of COVID-19 vaccine.
2. Russia Beyond: Russia has several working COVID-19 vaccines. How safe are they? – rbth.com/science-and-tech/332604-several-covid-vaccines
3. The Spectator: Matthew Lynn, Why are we so sniffy about the Russian vaccine?
4. Washington Post: Robyn Dixon, In Moscow, a woman devotes her life to saving dogs
5. The Nation: Vadim Nikitin, What Belarus Stands to Lose. Fixing the country’s broken democratic process can’t come at the cost of the inequality and corruption other former Soviet republics are now facing
6. TASS: Kommersant: Prospects for Belarusian opposition remain dim as the West plays it safe.
7. Washington Post: Gerard Toal, John O’Loughlin and Kristin M. Bakke, What’s driving the Belarus protests? Our survey reveals some clues, as well as generational divides.
8. Awful Avalanche: Belorus Sitrep: Opps Coordination Council + Potash Strike – Part III – awfulavalanche.wordpress.com/2020/08/21/belorus-sitrep-opps-coordination-council-potash-strike-part-iii/
9. Intellinews: Ben Aris, Belarus’ defence minister tells military elite: “It is necessary to fight. And if necessary with weapons” as Lukashenko’s counteroffensive gathers momentum.
10. Reuters: Putin Bets on Lukashenko Keeping Power in Belarus for Now: Sources.
11. Bloomberg: Russia Considers Life After Lukashenko in Belarus.
12. Foreign Policy: Rajan Menon, Belarus’s Protests Aren’t Particularly Anti-Putin. With little chance of the installation of an anti-Russian regime in Minsk, Moscow doesn’t have much reason to step into the fray.
13. The American Conservative: Ted Galen Carpenter, Why The U.S. Should Keep Its Distance From Belarus. Some will be pushing us into a standoff with Putin over this, but the last thing our leaders need is another Ukraine.
14. Russia Observer: Patrick Armstrong, RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 20 AUGUST 2020 – patrickarmstrong.ca/2020/08/20/russian-federation-sitrep-20-august-2020/
15. The National Interest: John Herbst, The Coming Russian-Chinese Clash. The Kremlin, so ready to identify slights from Washington, has been willing to accept junior partner status in its relationship with Beijing. But how long will that last?
16. Indian Punchline: M.K.Bhadrakumar, Iran “snapback” sanctions is a pantomime. Spectacle to watch is Trump-Putin summit.
17. Interfax: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov: Chances to extend New START Treaty aren’t great, but they haven’t dried up yet.
18. Riddle: Russian operation goes ‘offshore’ in Syria. Anton Mardasov and Kirill Semenov describe how Moscow is trying to support the armed opposition without weakening al-Assad – ridl.io/en/russian-operation-goes-offshore-in-syria/
19. Valdai Discussion Club: Sergey Markedonov, Neither Peace Nor War: Why Clashes on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Border Didn’t Change the Status Quo – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/just-another-incident-or-a-breakdown-of-the-status/
20. Intellinews: Donbass ceasefire holding surprisingly well, negotiators agree to remove soldiers from four territories. The ceasefire agreed between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding surprisingly well. Some more progress was made at the last meeting to remove soldiers and de-mine territories.
21. Ivan Katchanovski: New bombshell statement regarding staged abduction and crucifixion of Bulatov.
22. Counterpunch: Tom Couser, An Open Letter to Strobe Talbott – counterpunch.org/2020/08/21/an-open-letter-to-strobe-talbott/
24. Sputnik: Medics Give Green Light to Transporting Alexei Navalny Out of Hospital.
25. Meduza: Sources say that Navalny’s blood work didn’t reveal any traces of poison – meduza.io/en/news/2020/08/21/sources-say-that-navalny-s-blood-work-didn-t-reveal-any-traces-of-poison
26. TASS: Navalny in no condition to be transported, says press secretary.
27. TASS: No obstacles to transporting Navalny to Germany for treatment, says Kremlin.
28. TASS: Kommersant: Alexei Navalny hospitalized after suspected poisoning.
29. rt.com: Doctor treating Navalny says German specialists will check his condition – Kremlin says Putin ‘not planning’ to talk to Merkel.
30. TASS: Navalny’s condition may be caused by metabolic disorder, doctor says.
31. rt.com: ‘Rapid drop in blood sugar levels’ preliminary diagnosis behind Moscow protest leader Navalny’s illness – medical team leader.
32. R.Politik: Tatiana Stanovaya, Navalny.
33. Washington Post: Michael McFaul, A Russian dissident is fighting for his life. Where is the U.S.? We should be supporting the forces of good. Trump just shrugs.
34. New York Times: Andrew Kramer, Don’t Drink the Tea: Poison Is a Favored Weapon in Russia. Poison has been a preferred tool of the Russian security service for more than a century, and critics of the Kremlin say it remains in the arsenal today.
35. New York Times: Oleg Kashin, Why Would Vladimir Putin Want to Get Rid of Aleksei Navalny Now? The unchanging leader of the regime is Mr. Putin; the unchanging leader of the opposition is Mr. Navalny. But everything changes.
36. The New Yorker: Joshua Yaffa, What Navalny’s Poisoning Really Says About the Current State of Putin’s Russia.
37. The New Yorker: Masha Gessen, The Suspected Poisoning of Alexey Navalny, Putin’s Most Prominent Adversary.

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