RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#187 :: Friday, 16 October 2020
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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#187 :: Friday, 16 October 2020
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1. Intellinews: Ben Aris, Kremlin launches charm offensive ahead of looming Biden victory in US elections, end of the START missile treaty. Russia is getting worried about its deteriorating relations with the West and has launched a low key charm offensive to stop the rot.
2. Meduza: Russia’s population will decline by 352,500 people this year – 11 times more than in 2019.
3. Meduza: Haunted by demographic holes. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov weighs in on Russia’s declining population.
4. Meduza: ‘All current solutions are bad solutions’. Mayor Sergey Sobyanin on how Moscow is handling the pandemic’s second wave.
5. TASS: Izvestia: Russia may need around $150 bln to support economy and population after pandemic.
6. Carnegie Moscow Center: Alexander Baunov, New Russia Sanctions Are a Call to Action for Kremlin Doves. The latest EU sanctions against Russia send a clear signal: it’s not enough for individuals to have liberal ideas and reformist intentions; those ideas and intentions must be noticeable in the actions of the Russian state.
7. AP: Putin proposes yearlong extension of nuclear pact with US.
8. TASS: Putin proposes to extend New START without preconditions for one year minimum.
9. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with permanent members of the Security Council. (re START)
10. TASS: Izvestia: Russia, US hold differing views on fate of New START.
11. Washington Post: With unrest on all sides, Russia’s regional muscle is being tested.
12. AP: Azerbaijan, Armenia trade accusations on Caucasus conflict.
13. Moscow Times: Maxim Suchkov, In Nagorno-Karabakh, Russia Faces an Unenviable Task. Whichever way you look at it, the menu of Russia’s options ranges from bad to worse.
14. Eurasianet: Ani Mejluyan, Amid war, Armenians closely watching the signals from Russia. The messaging from Moscow has been pro-Armenia but critical of its government. And some Armenians are questioning their leaders’ flirtation, as mild as it’s been, with the West.
15. Intellinews: Russia criticises Turkey for pushing military solution to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Turkish-made armed drones are playing a big role in the conflict and are a key part of Ankara’s attempt to project itself as a regional power.
16. rt.com: ‘Under no circumstances’: Independence for Nagorno-Karabakh’s a ‘red line’ Baku won’t concede, says Azerbaijani President Aliyev.
17. Intellinews: Karabakh coverage looks at Turkish military exports to Baku and possible execution of Armenian soldiers.
18. New York Times: Garo Paylan, How Turkey’s Military Adventures Decrease Freedom at Home. Involvement in regional conflicts such as the dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia has whipped up nationalist fervor and obliterated space for advocates of peace and democracy.
19. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: Paul Stronski, The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Is a Bad Omen. With the United States shrugging off its erstwhile role as the world’s policeman, can anyone stop the fierce fighting now raging between Armenia and Azerbaijan?
https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/10/14/nagorno-karabakh-conflict-is-bad-omen-pub-82959
20. TASS: Kommersant: Kyrgyz president steps down after unrest.
21. Moscow Times: Nurbek Savitahunov, In Crisis-Hit Kyrgyzstan, Russia Weighs Its Influence and Intentions. Analysts interviewed by The Moscow Times disagreed on whether Russia is playing a constructive role in the ex-Soviet country.
RUSSIALINK: “In Crisis-Hit Kyrgyzstan, Russia Weighs Its Influence and Intentions” – Moscow Times
22. Asia Times: M.K. Bhadrakumar, Another color revolution fails in Kyrgyzstan. The dividing line between politics and crime will be thin if not non-existent under Kyrgyzstan’s new strongman
23. rt.com: Kit Klarenberg, Useful Idiot or Trojan Horse? Belarusian opposition figure Tikhanovskaya’s links to NATO’s Atlantic Council adjunct raise eyebrows.
https://www.rt.com/russia/503675-tikhanovskaya-nato-backed-opposition-figure/
24. Kyiv Post: Zelensky unveils 5 questions for his Oct. 25 poll.
https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/zelensky-unveils-5-questions-for-his-oct-25-poll.html
25. Atlantic Council: Alexander Vershbow, Ramp up on Russia.
