RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-26 :: Friday, 5 February 2016

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#26
Friday, 5 February 2016
A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs
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RUSSIA

1. New York Times: In Historical Move, Pope to Meet With Leader of Russian Orthodox Church.
2. TASS: First-ever meeting between Pope, Russian Orthodox patriarch ‘prepared for 20 years’
3. Moscow Times: Michele Berdy, All the Russian Words You Need to Talk About Icy Roads.
4. Russia Direct: Andrei Tsygankov, Why the demonization of Putin is unlikely to make Russia back down. The more that the West attempts to back Putin into a corner, the more he will be able to consolidate Russian public support for his policies.
5. Russia Beyond the Headlines/RBC Daily: Putin: Patriotism is only possible ‘national idea’ for Russians.
6. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, PATRIOTISM IS ENOUGH.
7. The Guardian (UK) letter: Anna Matveeva and Richard Sakwa, Demonising Russia won’t give us security.
8. Gorchakov Fund: Primakov Lecture by Henry A. Kissinger at the Gorchakov Fund in Moscow.
9. Russia Direct: Pavel Koshkin, Buzz about World War III only fuels Russia’s confrontation with the West. At the same time that the West is contemplating scenarios of new Russian aggression in Europe, the Kremlin is girding Russia’s population for the prospect of a potential war with a new initiative to boost patriotism within the country.
10. www.rt.com: Western nations see Russia as competitor, majority of Russians say in a poll.
11. Moscow Times: More Than Half of Russians Negative on State of Economy – Poll.
12. Interfax: Russia sees 1% January inflation, annual falls to single figures – Rosstat.
13. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russia’s latest anti-crisis plan: How will it work? The Russian government is making fresh attempts to lead the economy out of the crisis, primarily by investing in industry. RBTH analyzes the Kremlin’s latest anti-crisis plan and offers three alternative strategies for overcoming the crisis.
14. Russia Beyond the Headlines/RBC Daily: Putin outlines conditions for privatization of state assets.
15. TASS: Russian business takes interest in privatization – minister.
16. Moscow Times: Mark Adomanis, Russian State Assets for Sale: The Privatization Delusion.
17. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Gazeta.ru: Fyodor Lukyanov, Life after sanctions: What kind of future awaits Russia and the EU? With calls for EU economic sanctions against Russia to be lifted growing, it is time to consider what kind of future awaits relations between Moscow and Europe – is the idea of close co-operation dead and buried, or can both sides bury the hatchet and move toward a more meaningful and trusting relationship?
18. Gazeta.ru: Communists plan to step up criticism of Putin in Duma election campaign.
19. www.rt.com: Think tank director proposes cancelation of Russian elections amid Western ‘regime change threat’
20. RFE/RL: Micromanaged Democracy: Russia’s Ruling Party Schools Candidates On Campaigning.
21. The Nation: Ilaria Parogni, Transgender Russians Struggle to Take Their Movement Out of the Shadows. As the country grows more conservative on gender and sexuality, transgender Russians are fighting for their lives under great threat.
22. The Economist: Putin’s Chechen enforcer. The alarming world of Ramzan Kadyrov.
23. Meduza: Doctors find that Russians are having less sex because of the economic crisis.
24. Center for Global Interests: Sergey Aleksashenko, Government Approval Drops as Russians Start to Feel Economic Sting.
25. Everything-PR News: Richard Pace, American Government Should Stop Criticizing Russia’s Effective Public Relations Machine.
26. Moscow Times: Putin vs. Erdogan – This Time It’s Personal.
27. Washington Post: After four months, Russia’s campaign in Syria is proving successful for Moscow.
28. Counterpunch.org: Peace Talks “Paused” After Putin’s Triumph in Aleppo.
29. Sputnik: International Influence Must Be Based on Economic Achievements – Medvedev.
30. Wall Street Journal: NATO Expected to Approve Expansion of Troop Deployments on Eastern Flank. Russia has repeatedly said any additional deployments are deeply destabilizing and a threat to its security.
31. TASS: US military support for NATO allies may send tensions to new highs.
32. The National Interest: Nikolas Gvosdev, How NATO’s Military Buildup Will Test Russia. More weapons are on their way to Moscow’s neighbors.
33. TASS: Under START-3 Russia to cut nuclear arms along with US – academician.
34. Interfax: Rose Gottemoeller: Washington, Moscow could settle INF problem in 2016.
35. www.opendemocracy.net: Maxim Edward, Review: Arkady Ostrovsky’s ‘The Invention of Russia.’ This new history tells a compelling, if normative, story of how Russia’s journalists and entrepreneurs threw off their former shackles, only to put them back on again.

UKRAINE

36. Euromaidan Press: Ukrainian elites thoroughly penetrated by Russian moles, Kyiv journalist says. (Serhiy Kulida)
37. Reuters: Ukraine Struggles to Recruit Soldiers for War in East.
38. Kyiv Post editorial: No reform, no aid.
39. Kyiv Post: Brian Bonner, Poroshenko becoming another Yanukovych.
40. Transitions Online: Ukrainian Corruption Could Endanger IMF Loan.
41. Bloomberg: Ukrainian Bonds Plummet as Government Unity Efforts Stumble.
42. Kyiv Post: Timothy Ash, On which side of the reform fence does Poroshenko sit?
43. Fort Russ: Political Unrest in Kiev: Washington Uses Heavy “Artillery”
44. TASS: Ukrainian lawmaker: Abromavicius’s resignation plays into Saakashvili’s hands.
45. Russia Insider: Mass Exodus of Western Businesses From Ukraine. Ukraine continues to reap the rewards of its “Revolution of Dignity” which, far from integrating the country with Europe, destroyed the authority of the state and ruined the country’s economy.
46. TASS: Russian envoy: Kiev not prepared to comply with Minsk accords due to external factors.
47. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, Nuland-Surkov Meeting: US Tries to Re-Write Minsk II: Russia Says No. Foreign Minister Lavrov’s press conference shows that Russian government at all levels rejects US attempts to re-write terms of Minsk II Agreement for Ukrainian conflict settlement.
48. Ukrayinska Pravda (Kyiv): Ukrainian website predicts problems for president if Minsk deal implemented.
49. Euromaidan Press: Ukraine’s European integration impossible without decommunization.