RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2017-100 :: Monday, 29 May 2017

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2017-#100
Monday, 29 May 2017

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1. Jeffrey Carr: The “All 17 Agencies Agreed” Myth.
2. The Independent (UK): Mary Dejevsky, Jared Kushner was right to seek private channels with Russia. Trump critics are treating the latest revelation as further evidence of Russian collusion, but given the constant stream of leaks coming from the intelligence agencies, it may have been the best option to improve relations with the Kremlin.
3. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, Best To Assume Russia Sanctions Last Forever.
4. The Unz Review: Anatoly Karlin, One City, Three Protests.
5. Awful Avalanche: O What Rogues And Peasant Slaves Are Those Moscow Cops! – Part I.
6. www.rt.com: Rights activists propose large-scale amnesty for violations of civil law.
7. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Leading Russian theater director released from police custody. Kirill Serebrennikov, the artistic director of Moscow’s famous Gogol Center Theater, has been released from custody after questioning by police. Nevertheless, authorities still consider him a “witness” in the case. In the meantime, prominent Russian cultural figures had a personal conversation about this case with President Vladimir Putin, who commented on the situation.
8. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Chechnya’s anti-gay pogrom: Too much even for the Kremlin? The Kremlin has sent a team of reputable investigators into Russia’s tyrannical republic of Chechnya to examine reports of the rounding up, torture, and murder of dozens of gay men.
9. The Kennan Institute: Liliya Karimova, Russia’s Muslims Are as Diverse as Their Experiences.
10. Izvestia: Interview with Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko: ‘All of Us Sort of Live Behind Transparent Glass’ – Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko – on Ecology, Protests, Renovations, and Russia’s Relations With France, America and Ukraine.
11. Paul Goble: A New Threat to the Kremlin: Russians’ Incomes Not Keeping Pace with Their Expectations.
12. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with Commissioner for Entrepreneurs’ Rights Boris Titov.
13. Russia Insider: Paul Goncharoff, Making the Quantum Leap Between the Huge and the Nano in Russia. The e-commerce market in Russia is not sitting around twiddling its thumbs moaning about sanctions or other trade barriers imposed on free trade.
14. Russia Matters: Nikolas Gvosdev, Snapshot Analysis: Trump, NATO, Russia.
15. The National Interest: Doug Bandow, If Europe Really Worried About Russia, It Would Get Serious About Defense Spending.
16. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Ministry statement in connection with anniversaries in Russia-NATO relations.
17. Valdai Discussion Club: Tatiana Romanova and Jacques Sapir, WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE FIRST PUTIN-MACRON MEETING.
18. Reuters: Macron meets Russia’s Putin near Paris, promising tough talks.
19. Valdai Discussion Club: Yaroslav Lissovolik, A GEOGRAPHICAL CASE FOR THE “ONE BELT, ONE ROAD” AND THE EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION.
20. South China Morning Post: Donald Trump’s plan to play Russia against China is a fool’s errand. Alexander Gabuev says in its clumsy attempt to exploit the vulnerabilities of the Sino-Russian axis, the Trump administration misunderstands not only the strength of relations, but also its own desirability as a useful ally
21. TASS: Huntsman may soon replace Tefft as U.S. ambassador to Russia.
22. Fort Russ/RIA Novosti: Constructive dialogue with Washington is one of Moscow’s priorities – Putin aide.
23. National Review: Andrew McCarthy, Fighting the Politicized, Evidence-Free ‘Collusion with Russia’ Narrative . The ‘Russian collusion’ scandal is manufactured – but like all good subterfuge, it is premised on a kernel of truth.
24. Wall Street Journal: Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., The Trump-Russia Story Starts Making Sense. The Kremlin seems to have bet big on the willingness of U.S. intelligence agencies to leak.
25. Consortiumnews.com: David Swanson, Believing the Russian ‘Hacking’ Claim. Government lies are common when seducing a population to support a war, but the Russian “hacking” claims are unusual in that U.S. officials supply no evidence while the “fact” is just assumed.
26. www.rt.com: Bryan MacDonald, CNN introduces new definition of suspicious activity: Dating Russians.
27. Russia Insider: SS-Oberführer James Clapper: Subhuman Russians ‘Genetically Driven’ to Meddle in US Democracy.
28. Wall Street Journal: Russian Social Media Seen as Threat to Ukraine and to Cybersecurity. Kiev has shut down Russian Facebook-like platforms VKontakte and Odnoklassniki
29. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Banning all things Russian: Ukraine’s ‘special’ path. According to media reports, Ukraine is planning to cut off passenger rail traffic with Russia. The Ukrainian government said the issue was currently not on the agenda, but added that this would be a desirable move. Earlier, Ukraine severed freight rail traffic with Russia. RBTH takes a look at what other Russian things Ukraine has banned in recent years.
30. Carnegie Europe: Thomas de Waal, New Fighting in Ukraine’s Language War. If Kyiv draws new battle lines in the country’s language war, Moscow is ready to restart its side of this conflict.
31. The Kremlin Stooge: Mark Chapman, A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall. (re US and Ukraine)

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