RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-56 :: Tuesday, 22 March 2016

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#56
Tuesday, 22 March 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
The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University.
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RUSSIA

1. Atlantic Council: Fighting Back: New Bill Aims to Counter Russian Disinformation.
2. Russian International Affairs Council: Andrei Kortunov, How Not to Talk with Russia.
3. Bloomberg: Marc Champion, It Isn’t Time to Normalize With Russia Yet.
4. Moscow Times: Majority of Russians Would Support Putin Re-election – Poll.
5. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Vladimir Putin’s rating falls by 10%.
6. Washington Post: Russia’s remarkable trust in Putin has been shaken, poll finds.
7. http://readrussia.com: Mark Galeotti, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Vladimir Putin.
8. Wall Street Journal: Number of Russians Living in Poverty Rises.
9. www.rt.com: Ex-Finance Minister Kudrin urges Russian authorities to raise pension age. (Kudrin)
10. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, The Bank of Finland Thinks Russia’s Economy Isn’t Going To Improve In 2016.
11. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, Russia’s Economic Depression Continues; Market Info Becoming Harder To Obtain.
12. Carnegie Moscow Center: Andrei Movchan, Resisting Reform in 2016.
13. Russia Direct: Russia’s withdrawal from Syria, new corruption scandal, and plane crash in Rostov-on-Don. Media Roundup: Russia’s military exit from Syria, an event that was completely unexpected even for veteran Kremlin watchers, was the primary focus of the Russian media during the week.
14. TASS: Russia doesn’t cut spending on scientific research despite tough budget – Deputy PM.
15. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Science parks: Russia’s secret weapon, or Potemkin village? Sanctions are hampering Russia’s modernization and economic growth, but the country is determined to develop new technologies. Science parks are a crucial part of the national innovation strategy. How many have been built in the country recently, and what exactly are they doing? RBTH has the answers.
16. www.rt.com: Moscow may unilaterally use force on Syrian ceasefire violators from March 22 – General Staff.
17. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Syria analyst: Damascus cannot take Russian support for granted. Russia’s recent air campaign in Syria has had mixed effects on the civil war there. RBTH interviewed Noah Bonsey, Senior Syria Analyst at International Crisis Group, an NGO that researches conflicts and aims to advance policies for their resolution, as he returned from a recent field trip to Syria.
18. Wall Street Journal: Bret Stephens, Learning From Vladimir. American strategists might learn a thing or two from Russia’s in-and-out Syrian war.
19. The National Interest: Ari Heistein, Did Russia Win in Syria? Moscow’s incursion was a political victory, if not a total military one.
20. Washington Post: Samuel Greene, There may be a lot of reasons Putin changed Russia’s Syria policy, but showing up Obama is probably not one of them.
21. Vox.com: Mark Galeotti, What Russia’s military proved in Syria.
22. Russia Direct: Petr Topychkanov, Nonproliferation requires more cooperation between Russia, the West. The current standoff between Moscow and Washington, should it persist longer, could have disastrous implications for nuclear nonproliferation.
23. Interfax: WADA banned meldonium without studying period of its withdrawal from athletes’ blood – Mutko.
24. New York Times: Russian Town Says Bleak Film Depiction Went Heavy on the Vodka. (re “Leviathan”)
25. www.rt.com: Trump: ‘I want to get along with Russia’
26. Washington Post: A transcript of Donald Trump’s meeting with The Washington Post editorial board. (excerpts re Russia)
27. Carnegie Moscow Center: Dmitri Trenin, A Five-Year Outlook for Russian Foreign Policy: Demands, Drivers, and Influences. Whether Russia’s foreign policy achieves its objectives depends primarily on the success or failure of the country’s economic relaunch.

UKRAINE

28. RFE/RL: Ukraine’s Economy Plummeted By Nearly 10 Percent In 2015.
29. TASS: Russian PM calls Ukraine’s security chief a “dimwit” over comments on Brussels blasts.
30. Interfax: Sergei Ivanov criticizes Ukrainian Security chief for suggesting “Russian trail” in Brussels attacks.
31. Russian International Affairs Council: Igor Ivanov, Russia, Ukraine and the Future of Europe.
32. www.rt.com: Tony Abbott latest foreign politician to join Poroshenko’s ‘int’l advisory council’
33. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, Ukrainian Government Crisis – Kiev Swirls in Oligarch-led Intrigues. Oligarchs Akhmetov and Kolomoisky in power bids as they seek to cut deals with Poroshenko.
34. Kyiv Post: Martin Nunn, Ukrainian political mess underscores need for education in democracy.
35. https://dninews.com: Kiev to prohibit usage of Russian language in public places.
36. Facebook: Ivan Katchanovski, Maidan Kalashnikovs.
37. TASS: Kremlin: In considering Savchenko’s exchange Russia will abide by its laws.
38. www.rt.com: Ukrainian pilot Savchenko gets 22 years in Russian prison, sings through reading of final verdict.
39. Interfax: Kyiv sees Savchenko’s conviction as Moscow’s failure to comply with Minsk Agreements – Foreign Ministry statement.
40. www.rt.com: Only 1 in 10 crimes solved in Kiev – senior prosecutor.
41. Fort Russ/Izvestiya: Eurodream fail: Ukrainian refugees flood EU, threaten next migrant wave.
42. Russia Observer: Patrick Armstrong, MH17 For Dummies.