RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-31 :: Friday, 12 February 2016

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#31
Friday, 12 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. Government.ru: Dmitry Medvedev’s interview for Handelsblatt, Germany.
2. Government.ru: Interview of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Sputnik News Agency.
3. Patrick Armstrong: RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 11 February 2016.
4. Moscow Times: Russian Women – They’re Just Not That Into You.
5. The National Interest: Nicolai Petro, What Russian Orthodoxy Wants From Pope Francis. This week’s summit in Havana is a historic opportunity.
6. TASS: Russian Orthodox, Roman Catholic churches’ leaders to sign 10 pages long declaration.
7. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, The pope and the patriarch: Why are Russians skeptical of historic summit? Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill’s meeting Friday in Cuba will be the first ever between the leaders of the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches. But some say that the meeting was made without discussion.
8. Russia Direct: RD Insight: Economic crisis persists, so why is Putin’s ranking still high? Russia Direct interviewed top three experts to understand why the ongoing economic crisis doesn’t affect the approval rankings of the Russian President. (Kathryn Stoner, Alexey Levinson, and John Pat Willerton)
9. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Can Russia’s ruling party restore its reputation ahead of the elections? The federal election campaign in 2011 was the least successful to date for United Russia, which saw its reputation tainted by accusations of vote-rigging and fraud. How is Russia’s ruling party preparing for the upcoming elections in 2016 and can it repair its tarnished image among voters?
10. TASS: Duma speaker: Russia better prepared for crisis than many other countries.
11. Russia Insider: Yegor Kholmogorov, Patriotism as a National Idea Is a Long-Awaited Break with Russian Tradition.
12. Moscow Times: Majority of Russians Consider Impoverishment Country’s Main Threat.
13. TASS: Russian enterprises to slash jobs this year – deputy minister.
14. Russia Direct: Dmitry Dokuchaev, А silver lining during the crisis for the Russian economy. Amid the deep recession in the Russian economy, there is a sign of possible improvement: Russian industry might start growing this year.
15. Intellinews.com: Mark Adomanis, Why aren’t more of Russia’s banks failing?
16. Moscow Times: Russia Sends Medvedev to Munich Seeking Sanctions Relief.
17. www.rt.com: EU better respect Russia’s interests or do business elsewhere – Medvedev.
18. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Kommersant: Russian retail figures retreat to 1970 levels as crisis deepens. The Ministry of Economy has published figures revealing the Russian retail sector’s worst performance in over 40 years as inflation remains high. The report also shows a rise in the number of people in the country living below the poverty line.
19. Moscow Times: Russia’s Medvedev: Syrian Conflict May Become ‘Permanent War’
20. Reuters: ‘Cessation of hostilities’ in Syria lets Russia keep bombing.
21. www.rt.com: Syria crisis plan: Cessation of hostilities, humanitarian airdrops, peace talks laid out in Munich.
22. TASS: Ceasefire in Syria is desirable but hardly achievable goal.
23. The National Interest: Paul Pillar, Work with the Russians on Syria.
24. The Independent (UK): Patrick Cockburn, Saudi Arabia intervening in the Syrian civil war would risk Russian wrath. Saudi intervention would add yet one more combatant in the most complex and dangerous battlefield in the world.
25. Counterpunch.org: Mel Gurtov, Is US-Russia Engagement Still Possible?
26. Russia Beyond the Headlines: How realistic is BBC film about Russia-NATO nuclear war?
27. Russia Direct: RD Insight: What Kremlin has to do to find common ground with the West. Amidst the ongoing confrontation between Russia and the West, Russia Direct interviewed three foreign policy experts to understand what the Kremlin should do to see eye-to-eye with the West. (Richard Sakwa, Robert Freedman, and Aurel Braun)
28. The National Interest: Dana Rohrabacher, Why Is America Restarting the Cold War With Russia? Washington’s strategy toward Moscow is outmoded and misdirected.
29. www.project-syndicate.org: George Soros, Putin is No Ally Against ISIS.
30. http://observer.com: John Schindler, Mounting Evidence Putin Will Ignite WWIII.
31. The Calvert Journal: Samuel Goff, History man. Making sense of race in Russia via the extraordinary life of Pushkin’s black forebear.
32. http://readrussia.com: The Next World Chess Championship Challenger to be Determined in Moscow.
33. The Russian Chamber Art Society: Concert: The Silver Age of Russian Poetry in Music. (February 26 in Washington DC)
34. Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs: Event: Beyond a New Cold War? International Security and the Need for U.S.-Russia Cooperation. (February 17 in New York)
35. TASS: Year after Minsk-2 Accords conflict in Ukraine is frozen, settlement outlook bleak.