RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#200 :: Wednesday 13 October 2015

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter]

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#200
Wednesday – 14 October 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.
JRL homepage: russialist.org
JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist
JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi
Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php
Support for JRL is provided in part by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Open Society Foundations to the George Washington University and by voluntary contributions from readers.

RUSSIA

1. Interfax: Putin informed Obama of plans to strike ISIL in Syria at meeting in New York – Lavrov.
2. Izvestia: Putin, security agencies show biggest rise in trust – poll.
3. Interfax: 75% of Russians see Western countries as adversaries.
4. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, Russia and the East.
5. Moscow Times: Putin Says Russian Economy Stabilizing.
6. Kremlin.ru: Russia Calling! Investment Forum. (transcript continued)
7. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, Investors Grill Russia: CalPERS, Foreign Investors Question Putin On Economy, Syria, Ukraine.
8. Business New Europe: Putin looks back to West as China swing chokes.
9. Bloomberg: $50 Oil for 15 Years Isn’t What Scares Bank of Russia Governor.
10. Russia Insider: Head of US Amcham Moscow: “Coming Year Will be Worse Than the Past Year.” Deep insight into what American big business think about Russia. (Alexis Rodzianko)
11. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, Russia’s International Reserves Are Modestly Rebounding.
12. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Foreign media companies leaving Russia as new ownership law looms. With a new law limiting foreign ownership of media in Russia to 20 percent due to come into force on Jan. 1, 2016, many international companies are already leaving the market due to loss of revenue.
13. TASS: Russia’s higher education is getting almost universal, but quality in question.
14. Public Radio International (PRI): This woman demonstrated that even in Russia all politics is local. (Natalia Pinus)
15. Moscow Times: Russian Branch of Ecology NGO Bellona Closes Over ‘Foreign Agent’ Status.
16. Los Angeles Times: Activist organizations struggling to survive under Russian restrictions.
17. Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Federation Council International Affairs Committee: Is the era of values and ‘soft power’ over? Konstantin Kosachev on what a multipolar world needs to strive for.
18. Brookings.edu: Jeremy Shapiro and Samuel Charap, Why a new Cold War can be avoided.
19. Brookings.edu: Steven Pifer, Avoiding a new Cold War. Really?
20. Reuters: U.S. expects agreement with Russia soon on Syria air safety.
21. Interfax: Washington declines proposed visit of Medvedev-led delegation to U.S., visit of its delegation to Moscow – Lavrov.
22. Valdai Discussion Club: Ruslan Pukhov, THE RUSSIAN MILITARY CAMPAIGN IN SYRIA: THE BALANCE OF FORCES AND POSSIBLE RISKS.
23. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Russian expert comments on “premature” victory reports by Syrian troops.
24. Washington Post: Al-Qaeda in Syria calls for revenge attacks on Russia.
25. Russia Direct: Yuri Barmin, Russia’s military role in Syria: A byproduct of the Iran nuclear deal? Tehran may have presented Moscow with a proposal it couldn’t refuse to ignore: military involvement in Syria in exchange for a geopolitical partnership after the lifting of sanctions.
26. Moscow Times: Georgy Bovt, Putin’s Tactical Gambles Are Paying Off
27. Australian Strategic Policy Institute: Michael Clarke, Russia’s Syria intervention and the bipartisan insolvency of US strategy.
28. Russia & India Report: Six unexpected outcomes of Russian airstrikes in Syria.
29. Russia Direct: Sergey Markedonov, How Moscow ‘invests’ in frozen conflicts. For Russia involvement in ethno-political conflict is not kind of idee fixe. There are many interests and rationales behind it.
30. Politico.com: Rift in Obama administration over Putin. The president’s reluctance to respond assertively is signaling U.S. weakness and indecision, some officials say.
31. www.rt.com: Editorial, How Newsweek gets Russia wrong.
32. Los Angeles Times: Carol Williams, A spot rich in Russia’s soulful heritage becoming billionaires’ playground. (Peredelkino)

UKRAINE

33. Moscow Times: Infowar Continues as Russian, MH17 Investigations Reach Different Conclusions.
34. Interfax-Ukraine: MH17 shot down by Russian Buk missile launched from Snizhne area – Ukraine’s investigation.
35. Interfax: Ukraine rebels say they “did not have” Buk missile system at time of MH17 crash.
36. Sputnik: Russia Categorically Disagrees With Dutch MH17 Report – Aviation Agency.
37. Bloomberg: Leonid Bershidsky, MH17 Crash Report Shows No Side Was Innocent.
38. The Guardian (UK): Mary Dejevsky, Whoever shot down flight MH17, Russia’s reputation is in tatters. We still don’t know for sure who caused the Malaysia Airlines catastrophe in Ukraine, but it has been costly for both the Kremlin and the rebels.
39. Consortiumnews.com: Robert Parry, MH-17: The Dog Still Not Barking.
40. Kyiv Post: Oct. 25 local elections highlight battle under way to fill eastern Ukraine power vacuum.
41. Newsweek.com: Luhansk Rebels Open to Discussions with Ukraine’s President.
42. Gazeta.ru editorial: Suspended in war: Who will feed Donbass tomorrow.
43. Interfax-Ukraine: Poroshenko: I don’t trust Putin, his puppets, their promises, so Ukrainian army should be on constant alert.
44. Reuters: Ukraine puts debt deal to bondholder vote.
45. www.rt.com: Putin teases IMF to repay Ukraine’s $3bn Russian debt.
46. Counterpunch.org: Theodoros Papadopoulos, The EU Has Lost the Plot in Ukraine.
47. www.rt.com: Bryan MacDonald, If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging: Ukraine bans Russian airlines.

 

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

Comment