RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#228 :: Monday 23 November 2015

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#228
Monday 23 November 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. TASS: Gorbachev proposes creation of new forum to discuss global issues.
2. Moscow Times: Russians Fear Clashes With Islamic State More Than With NATO – Poll.
3. Interfax: Western sanctions cost Russia 1.5% of GDP – Alexei Kudrin.
4. Interfax: Former Russian Finance Minister calls for reform of political system, NGO laws. (Kudrin)
5. Wall Street Journal: Russian Corporate Bonds’ Unlikely Winning Ways. They are the best performing in the emerging markets in 2015, Citigroup says.
6. TASS: Most critical phase in Russia’s banking sector development is over – Sberbank CEO. (Gref)
7. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, Oops, Russia Recession Not Done Yet.
8. www.rt.com: Russian stock market hits highest level since spring 2008.
9. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Moty Cristal, Three urban legends about Russian business people. A Skolkovo professor dispels some myths about doing business with Russians.
10. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, Russia’s Foreign Trade Is Falling Fast, But It’s Still Balanced.
11. Moscow Times: Russian Justice Ministry Report on NGO Memorial Heads to Court.
12. www.opendemocracy.net: Nelli Babayan, Truthiness in Russia. What we’re missing from the propaganda debate: how state propaganda feeds off and enhances public sentiment.
13. Interfax: Quarter of Russians view doping charges against athletes as groundless.
14. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Russian analysts discuss whether thaw with West will ease sanctions.
15. Russia Direct: Anton Varfolomeev, How ISIS has fundamentally changed our view of global terrorism. Unlike al-Qaeda, which formed as a terrorist network, ISIS views itself as a new type of geopolitical actor that can use any means necessary to advance its anti-Western, anti-state goals.
16. Le Monde diplomatique: Alexei Malashenko, Putin’s Syrian bet. Putin has taken an enormous risk in backing Syria’s Assad with military force. If his gamble pays off, Russia could be the peacemaker with only marginal military losses. If not, he invites destabilisation and threats from ISIS back home.
17. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Why is Russia now bombing ISIS with long-range missiles?
18. Moscow Times: Hagel: Russia, U.S. Must Fight Islamic State Together.
19. www.thedailybeast.com: Eleanor Clift, Can Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin Fix Syria Together?
20. www.rt.com: Medvedev: US Mideast policy contributed to rise of Islamic State.
21. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Georgy Bovt, No longer any excuse for disunity after terrorist attacks.
22. Sputnik: US Must Stop Depicting Its War on Assad as ‘Battle Between Good and Evil’
23. The Unz Review: The Saker, Week Seven of the Russian Intervention in Syria: Dramatic Surge in Intensity.
24. The International New York Times: Maxim Trudolyubov, Putin’s Emergency Politics.
25. Government.ru: News conference by Dmitry Medvedev. The Prime Minister answered questions from journalists following the APEC Leaders’ Meeting.
26. The National Interest: Paul Dibb, This Is How America and the Soviet Union Almost Started a Nuclear War.
27. Wall Street Journal: Stephen Kotkin, Stalin’s Man in London. The debacle of Yalta was prepared well before Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin convened in 1945. (re THE MAISKY DIARIES).
28. New York University: Bill Bradley, Jack Matlock, Stephen Cohen, and John Pepper on “U.S.-Russian Conflict from Ukraine to Syria”-November 23.

UKRAINE

29. New York Times: Crimea in Dark After Power Lines Are Blown Up.
30. TASS: Kremlin: no information from Kiev yet on resumption of Crimea electricity supply.
31. Interfax-Ukraine: Only one power supply line leading to Crimea can currently be repaired – Ukraine’s Interior Minister.
32. TASS: Blasts of power transmission lines prove Kiev’s inability to keep situation under control.
33. Kyiv Post: Crimea blackout triggers fears of Russian backlash.
34. Bloomberg: Leonid Bershidsky, Ukraine Bids for Attention With Crimea Blackout.
35. The Unz Review: Anatoly Karlin, Country 404 vs. Crimea.
36. Ukraine Today: Over 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers killed since Russia invaded Ukraine.
37. www.rt.com: Alexander Yakovenko, Implementing Minsk Agreement: Current priorities.
38. Interfax-Ukraine: Ukraine security chief says Russia changed tactics, seeks to destabilize country.
39. Kyiv Post: Experts: Time running out for government to fulfill EuroMaidan goals.
40. Carnegie Moscow Center: Oleksandr Holubov, Poroshenko’s Catch-22.
41. Paul Goble: Two Anniversaries, Two Countries – Ukraine’s Maidan at Two, Russia’s Foreign Agents Law at Three.
42. www.rt.com: Most Ukrainians think country headed in wrong direction on 2nd anniversary of Maidan uprising.
43. Sputnik: True Reasons Why Maidan Protests Resulted in Ukraine’s Coup.
4. TASS: Foreign Ministry: Russia is interested more than others in resolving the crisis in Ukraine.
45. http://newcoldwar.org: Long-delayed revelations in killings of the first Maidan protesters and in the Bulatov case.
46. Facebook: Ivan Katchanovski, The Ballistic Reports and Other New Unreported Revelations of the Maidan Massacre Trial in Ukraine.
47. Kyiv Post: Poroshenko vows killers of Maidan protesters will go to prison.