RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2018-104 :: Friday, 8 June 2018

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2018-#104 :: Friday, 8 June 2018
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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1. Meduza: Putin’s 2018 marathon call-in show, boiled down to two paragraphs.
2. TASS: In God We Trust: Putin certain every person born with faith in the Almighty.
3. Bear Market Brief: Biggest takeaways from the Direct Line.
4. www.rt.com: God, steel and World War III: 5 highlights from Vladimir Putin’s marathon Q & A.
6. Moscow Times: Russia’s Power Vertical: Governors Scramble to Fulfill Putin’s Televised Promises.
7. RFE/RL: Robert Coalson, No Fireworks As Putin, Officials Read From Same (Dull) Script During Call-In Show.
8. TASS: Vedomosti: Putin sets sights on bolstering nationwide road infrastructure.
9. Bear Market Brief: Health reform up next after pension reform.
10. TASS: RBC: Government to specify scope of pension reform.
11. www.rt.com: Communists seek nationwide referendum as Russian cabinet is set to raise retirement age.
12. Paul Goble: Russians have Three Serious Misconceptions about 1993 Constitution and Its Implications, Shelin Says.
13. Russiafeed.com: Alexander Mercouris, ECONOMY UPDATE: Despite surging oil prices and falling rouble Russia’s inflation rate continues steady. Inflation remains at annual rate of 2.4%, confounding Central Bank’s fears of a sharp rise.
14. Asia Times: Luke Thompson, Putin critical of cryptos, Russian farmers think otherwise. While the president says a state-backed crypto-currency is unworkable, the adoption of a digital token in a Russian farming community is working.
15. Carnegie Moscow Center: Andrei Kolesnikov, Russian Oligarchs in the Era of Sanctions.
16. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, How Russia’s Largest Companies Have Weathered Sanctions.
17. TASS: Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Will Russia withstand another wave of sanctions?
18. Financial Times: Trump calls for Russia to be invited to G8. Comments likely to complicate G7 talks further.
19. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, As Singapore summit nears, Russia worries Trump and Kim won’t cut a deal. As the Trump-Kim summit nears, little attention has been given to how the Kremlin views the situation. But Russia has a great deal at stake, as both a neighbor and a patron of North Korea.
20. Moscow Times: Vladimir Frolov, On North Korea, Trump Has Putin Playing Second Fiddle. Moscow is pulling out all the stops to get a seat at the table.
21. Valdai Discussion Club: Danila Bochkarev, WHAT GAZPROM’S ACCEPTING EU RULES OF THE GAME MEANS FOR EUROPEAN ENERGY SECURITY.
22. www.rt.com: Russia-China trade to reach record $100bn by year-end as ties grow in all sectors – Putin.
23. Russian International Affairs Council: Dmitry Danilov, NATO-Russia Council: What Are the Outcomes?
24. The Nation: Stephen Cohen, The Necessity of a Trump-Putin Summit. Ten ways the new US-Russian Cold War is increasingly becoming more dangerous than the one we survived.
25. The National Interest: Daniel Davis, Trump Shouldn’t Accept Georgia into NATO. It should be a concern to every American that foreign-policy leaders openly advocate extending NATO membership to volatile nations on Russia’s border.
26. Russia Matters: Simon Saradzhyan and Ali Wyne, China-Russia Relations: Same Bed, Different Dreams? Why Converging Interests Are Unlikely to Lead to a Full-Fledged Alliance.
27. Wall Street Journal; After Military Push in Syria, Russia Plays Both Sides in Libya. Kremlin-backed businessman befriends Tripoli government while Moscow shows support for its powerful opponent.
28. The Blog Mire: Rob Slane, Joining Some Dots on the Skripal Case: Part 4 – The Dodgy Dossier. [Additional parts and text with links: theblogmire.com/joining-some-dots-on-the-skripal-case-part-4-the-dodgy-dossier/]
29. Consortiumnews.com: Ray McGO0vern, Still Waiting for Evidence of a Russian Hack. More than two years after the allegation of Russian hacking of the 2016 U.S. presidential election was first made, conclusive proof is still lacking and may never be produced. [Text with links: consortiumnews.com/2018/06/07/still-waiting-for-evidence-of-a-russian-hack/]
30. Kremlin.ru: Direct Line with Vladimir Putin. (transcript continued)
31. Kremlin.ru: Answers to journalists’ questions following Direct Line.
32. New York Times: Susan Rice, How Trump Helps Putin.
33. New York Times: Ken Bensinger, How Russian Meddling Gave Us This Year’s World Cup.
34. Washington Post editorial: A political prisoner in Russia is starving. The world should take notice
35. www.rt.com: Twitter chuckles about ‘Russian interference’ after historic win of Ovechkin’s Capitals. excerpt)
36. Financial Times: Simon Kuper, How to get the most from the World Cup. Do switch off Twitter, don’t make predictions: lessons from a football veteran.

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