RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2018-118 :: Thursday, 28 June 2018

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2018-#118:: Thursday, 28 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. Wall Street Journal: Trump to Meet Russia’s Putin in Finland on July 16. Summit will be U.S. president’s first with the Russian leader, and the two will discuss national security and outlook for developing Russian-American relations.
2. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with US National Security Adviser John Bolton.
3. Valdai Discussion Club: Fyodor Lukyanov, PUTIN-TRUMP SUMMIT: NORMALIZING CONTACTS UNDER TIME PRESSURE.
4. TASS: Media: Moscow, Washington agree on landmark Putin-Trump summit.
5. Interfax: Putin shares with Bolton some ideas intended solely for Trump – Ushakov.
6. The Nation: Stephen Cohen, Who’s Afraid of a Trump-Putin Summit? If it actually occurs, never in the 75-year history of such US-Russian meetings will an American president have had so much opposition and so little support at home.
7. Valdai Discussion Club: Ivan Timofeev, JOHN BOLTON IN MOSCOW: CAN ONE EXPECT A TURNABOUT IN THE US-RUSSIA RELATIONS?
8. Sic Semper Tyannis: Patrick Lang, What is John Bolton’s role in Trump’s ME drama? [turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2018/06/what-is-john-boltons-role-in-trumps-me-drama.html]
9. The Cipher Brief: U.S. – Russia Summit Likely to Kick Spying Efforts into High Gear.
10. www.rt.com: Is neocon war cheerleader John Bolton a Kremlin double-agent? Some say ‘why not?’ [rt.com/usa/431139-john-bolton-kremlin-agent/]
11. Washington Time: Trump catches World Cup fever … but will he watch final with Putin?
12. PONARS Eurasia: The World Cup in Russia: A Boon for Public Diplomacy. As Richard Arnold explains, hosting the FIFA World Cup has been a PR coup for Russia, mostly living up to official expectations (though with some caveats), and, at least so far, a popular success.
13. The Conversation: Jamie Freeman, Kaliningrad: the unique World Cup city that has twice tried to erase its past.
14. The Conversation: Samuel Putnam and Masha Garstein, Why are Russians so stingy with their smiles?
15. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, NOSTALGIA FOR THE SOVIET MUD CURE WON’T STOP THE CULL OF RUSSIAN PENSIONERS.
16. Bear Market Brief: New poll hints that teachers’ salaries may soon become a priority. [Text with footnotes, links, and graphics: johnhelmer.net/nostalgia-for-the-soviet-mud-cure-wont-stop-the-cull-of-russian-pensioners/#more-19420]
17. Meduza: ‘We’re begging. What else can we do?’ The humiliation of the Moscow mayoral race’s ‘municipal filter’
18. Daily Beast: Anna Nemtsova, Meet Anton Krasovsky, the Gay Man Running for Mayor of Moscow. Anton Krasovsky stands alone: the only out LGBTQ person willing to stand for election in Russia. That’s if the authorities allow him to run for mayor of Moscow this September.
19. Council on Foreign Relations: Lincoln Pitman, Who Was German Klimenko and What Does His Dismissal Mean for the Russian Internet? Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin sacked his internet adviser, German Klimenko. The dismissal has injected rare optimism into those hoping for a thaw of sorts in the battle for the Russian internet. That optimism may be misplaced.
20. TASS: Economic Development Ministry worsens forecast for Russia’s GDP growth in 2018.
21. Jerusalem Post: Ziva Dahl, PUTIN EYES MIDEAST ROLE FOR RUSSIA. Does Putin succeed in enhancing Russia’s position as a global power? Will there be cooperation between Russia and the US? Putin hopes so.
22. TASS: Putin: Over 20 aircraft, 1,000 personnel withdrawn from Syria over past days.
23. www.rt.com: White Helmets are helping Syrian militants prepare ‘false flag’ chemical attack – Idlib residents.
24. TASS: US pullout from INF treaty would endanger nuclear arms control – analyst
25. Valdai Discussion Club: Georgy Toloraya, RUSSIA-SOUTH KOREA DIALOGUE: OPENING NEW HORIZONS?
26. New York Times: Sarah Lyall, In Volgograd, It’s Stalin Who Lurks on the Sideline. The World Cup will depart Volgograd on Thursday after a final first-round game in this city along the Volga River. What will remain are all the echoes of the past.
27. Facebook: Dmitry Babich, Hilarious article from the Wa Po.
28. The Weekly Standard: Aggression Is a Choice. A conversation with Michael McFaul on Putin, Russia, and what the president should read.
29. The National Interest: Nikolas Gvosdev, At the Brussels Summit, NATO Faces a Crucial Test. NATO needs a frank discussion among the allies about Russia.
30. Russian International Affairs Council: Andrey Kortunov, Why the World is Not Becoming Multipolar.

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