RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2020-#120 :: Monday, 6 July 2020

To inquire about a subscription to the full Johnson’s Russia List e-mail newsletter, e-mail David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net

Support the JRL: russialist.org/funding.php
Donate Online: click here for direct link at GWU

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter]

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#120 :: Monday, 6 July 2020
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.
JRL Home: russialist.org – JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi
Support for JRL is provided in part by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York to the George Washington University and by voluntary contributions from readers.

1. The National Interest: Matthew Rojansky Michael Kimmage, The Third Neighbor: Can America Live With Putin’s Russia? Russia will not disappear, and so it is essential to develop a Revised approach to U.S.-Russia relations. Instead of friend or foe, it’s time for Russia to be viewed as the third neighbor of the United States.
2. Moscow Times: Russia Breaks Heat Records in First Half of 2020
3. Washington Post: Rapid Arctic meltdown in Siberia alarms scientists.
4. TASS: Izvestia: Second wave of COVID-19 in Moscow unlikely, says expert.
5. Postsocialism: Jeremy Morris, Covid field tales – Part One: Moscow ends lockdown, and fragrant flashbacks – postsocialism.org/2020/07/06/covid-field-tales-part-one-moscow-ends-lockdown-and-fragrant-flashbacks/
6. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with the working group on drafting proposals for amendments to the Constitution – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/63599
7. TASS: Amended Russian Constitution available on official portal of legal information
8. The National Interest: Dimitri Alexander Simes, Will Putin Really Return To The Kremlin in 2024? President Vladimir Putin now has the legal right to remain in power until 2036, after a large majority of Russians voted in favor of Kremlin-backed constitutional reforms.
9. gilbertdoctorow.com: Gilbert Doctorow, Putin’s Referendum: Where are the numbers?
– gilbertdoctorow.com/2020/07/04/putins-referendum-where-are-the-numbers/
10. The Independent: Nikolai Petrov and Ekaterina Aleynikova, The constitutional vote in Russia has undermined Putin’s position – even if it allows him to rule longer. Unintentionally, the Kremlin has created a stark trade-off. The greater the lengths it has gone to in seeking high turnout and approval figures, the less able it has been to create a picture of a valid or legitimate process. – independent.co.uk/voices/constitutional-vote-russia-vladimir-putin-rule-a9598416.html
11. The Conversation: Adrian Campbell, The wild decade: how the 1990s laid the foundations for Vladimir Putin’s Russia
12. NYU Jordan Center for Advanced Study of Russia upcoming event July 8 on ZOOM: Russian Civil Society in the Time of COVID-19.
13. Financial Times editorial: Russia’s fragile one-man rule. Vladimir Putin’s presidency may prove unsustainable well before 2036.
14. Interfax: World Bank forecasting 2020 Russian GDP decline of 9.6% under adverse scenario compared to 6% drop in baseline scenario
15. TASS: Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Consumer pessimism hovering over Russian population.
16. rt.com: Russian economic activity picks up as coronavirus-related restrictions ease – rt.com/business/493917-russia-manufacturing-pmi-rebound/]
17. Moscow Times: Denmark Paves Way for Russia’s Nord Stream 2 Restart. Russia could restart construction on final pipeline stretch, while U.S. mulls super sanctions bill against project.
18. TASS: Vedomosti: Russia believes it’s time for a Gas OPEC.
19. Strategic Culture Foundation: Patrick Armstrong, Why Russians Don’t Want to Be Europeans – strategic-culture.org/news/2020/07/04/why-russians-dont-want-to-be-europeans/
20. Russian International Affairs Council: Ilya Kramnik, North to Move and Not to Lose. What the Big Game in the Arctic could look like – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/north-to-move-and-not-to-lose/
21. rt.com: Andrey Akulov, Can Russia prevent China and India taking up arms against each other? – rt.com/op-ed/493854-china-india-conflict-russia-role/
22. Carnegie Moscow Center: Artyom Shraibman, Embattled Lukashenko Loses Friends in East and West. Belarus is moving toward a new geopolitical identity. Instead of its status as a peacekeeper between East and West, Minsk may soon find that it lacks a good relationship with either side.
23. TASS: ‘Utter nonsense’: Kremlin rips Russia bashing rumors of Moscow’s ‘plans’ to invade Ukraine.
24. rt.com: Dutch MH17 trial: Court to consider report from Russian missile producer that points to Ukraine as culprit – rt.com/russia/493798-mh17-trial-manufacturer-witness/
25. Der Spiegel: “I Have No Explanation for all these Lies”. Evidence Casts New Doubts on Russian Doping Whistleblower. For five years, the sporting world has been gripped by Russian manipulation of the anti-doping system. Now new evidence suggests the whistleblower who went into a witness protection program during the scandal may not have been entirely truthful.
26. Wall Street Journal: How Kremlin’s View of U.S.’s War in Afghanistan Has Shifted. Deteriorating U.S.-Russian ties adversely affect a once-shared goal, leading to a U.S. intelligence assessment of bounties paid to Taliban.
27. Moscow Times: Mark Galeotti, The ‘Talibangate’ Claims About Russian Bounties Still Don’t Add Up. A story that raises serious probability questions is being accepted by many as proven.
28. Antiwar.com: Memo Raises Fresh Doubts on Russian Bounty Intel. Intelligence memo reflects recent reports that the NSA dissented from other agencies over credibility of bounty intel. – news.antiwar.com/2020/07/05/white-house-memo-raises-fresh-doubts-on-russian-bounty-intel/
29. Consortium News: Scott Ritter, BOUNTYGATE: Scapegoating Systemic Military Failure in Afghanistan The story of the alleged “bounty scheme” grew up in the context of top U.S. brass blaming Russia for America’s defeat in Afghanistan. – consortiumnews.com/2020/07/05/bountygate-scapegoating-systemic-military-failure-in-afghanistan/
30. Russia Beyond: 5 spheres where Russia is a world leader – rbth.com/science-and-tech/332391-5-spheres-where-russia-is-world-leader