RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2018-115 :: Saturday-Monday, 23-25 June 2018

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2018-#115 :: Saturday-Monday, 23-25 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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[Saturday]
[1. Wall Street Journal: David B. Rivkin Jr. and Elizabeth Price Foley, Mueller’s Fruit of the Poisonous Tree; It makes no difference how honorable he is. His investigation is tainted by the bias that attended its origin in 2016.


[Monday]
0. www.rt.com: Reality check for Russia after ruthless Uruguay run riot in 3-0 rout.
1. The National Interest: George Beebe, McFaul’s Russia. Michael A. McFaul’s memoir, From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia, seeks to offer an answer on what went wrong in U.S.-Russian relations.
2. The National Interest: Matthew Rojansky and Andrey Kortunov, These are the Benefits of a U.S.-Russia Summit. The history of relations between the United States and Russia demonstrates that there is no substitute for personal contacts between the leaders of the two countries.
3. Russian International Affairs Council: Igor Ivanov, A Roadmap for Russia-U.S. Relations.
4. The Bell: The World Cup just might open the door for Russia to make a deal with the West.
5. The BlogMire: Rob Slane, Joining Some Dots on the Skripal Case: Part 6 – Tying up the Loose Ends. [Text with links and comments theblogmire.com/joining-some-dots-on-the-skripal-case-part-6-tying-up-the-loose-ends/]
6. Kremlin.ru: Address to Russian school leavers.
7. Reuters: Kremlin Shrugs Off Rare Dent in Putin’s Ratings Over Retirement Age Hike.
8. Bloomberg: Putin Ratings Hit Four-Year Low on Plan to Raise Pension Age.
9. Paul Goble: World Cup May Have Helped Russia But It hasn’t Boosted Putin.
10. Deutsche Welle: Russian press on the World Cup: Joyful foreign fans praised from different political views. Russians are embracing their role as hosts for jubilent soccer fans. While some commentators say the international guests will help dispel Western media myths, others argue the exchange could undermine Kremlin control.
11. AP: Russia’s World Cup fixer deals with scams and injuries.
14. Wall Street Journal: Russian Lenders Need Western Money, Top Banker Says. Success depends on how Moscow build relations with the outside world. (Mikhail Zadornov)
15. Russia in Global Affairs: Brigitte Granville and Vladimir Mau, Putin’s Economic Dilemma. [http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/book/Putins-Economic-Dilemma-19624]
16. Awara: Jon Hellevig, RUSSIA’S Q1 GDP GROWTH WAS 5.8%, BUT GOVERNMENT REPORTS 1.3%.
17. Russian and Eurasian Politics: Gordon Hahn, Russia, the West, and Recent Geoeconomics in Europe’s Gas Wars.
18. Intellinews.com: Lindsay Mackenzie, The US sanction on Russia muddle.
19. Izvestia: Expert advocates for Russia and US signing new arms treaty. (Anton Lavrov)
20. Asia Times: Andrew Salmon, Moon in Russia: Gas pipeline no longer a pipe dream. Russia established North Korea after World War II, but in recent decades has been marginalized in the region; warming economic ties with South Korea may help it regain a strategic position
21. Valdai Discusion Club: Hüseyin Bağcı, TURKEY-RUSSIA RELATIONS: BACKGAMMON VS CHESS. What Putin knows is that Turkey is “forced to go to the hands of Russia” as never ever before since World War II. It is up to President Putin to encounter this proposal. Turkey made a move like in chess, and now it is up to chess master Putin what move he will do.
22. Carnegie Moscow Center: Artyom Shraibman, Belarus, the Tactical Peacemaker. Belarus’s newfound role as a peacemaker has helped Minsk gain previously unimaginable freedom of maneuver with both the West and Russia. Minsk will likely continue to defend and uphold its status as a mediator, even if warring parties do not want to negotiate.
23. The Independent (UK): Hillary Clinton attacks Vladimir Putin as leader of ‘white supremacist and xenophobic movement.’ ‘We can see this authoritarian movement rippling out from the Kremlin, reaching across Europe and beyond,’ the former Democratic presidential candidate says. [independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/hillary-clinton-vladimir-putin-white-supremacist-russia-racist-donald-trump-a8412521.html]
24. Washington Post: If they needed to fend off war with Russia, U.S. military leaders worry they might not get there in time.
25. www.rt.com: Bryan MacDonald, Atlantic Council finally admits Ukraine’s Nazi problem, and seems upset RT reported it earlier. [rt.com/op-ed/430796-ukraine-nazi-atlantic-council/]
26. Awful Avalanche: Can Football Bring World Peace? [Text with links awfulavalanche.wordpress.com/2018/06/23/can-football-bring-world-peace/]
27. Awful Avalanche: If War Were A Game Of Football… [Text with links awfulavalanche.wordpress.com/2018/06/25/if-war-were-a-game-of-football/]
28. Russia Beyond: What would Tolstoy have said about Donald Trump?

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