RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2020-#31 :: Friday, 21 February 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#31 :: Friday, 21 February 2020
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1. Interfax: Vilfand explains extremely warm winter in Russia.
2. Meduza: New Kremlin-linked study shows that Russians fear for the country if Putin leaves power.
3. Kremlin.ru: Vladimir Putin’s interview for TASS News Agency. Part 1: On the tasks of the new Government – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/62843
4. TASS: 20 Questions with Vladimir Putin. Episode 2: Putin on Ukraine. (Video) – putin.tass.ru/en/ob-ukraine/
5. TASS: Putin urges respect for Ukrainians’ identity, highlights mutual roots.
6. www.rt.com: A Russia-Ukraine team would be a powerhouse, so competitors will do anything to tear us apart – Putin. – rt.com/russia/481377-putin-ukraine-russia-powerhouse/
7. BMB Ukraine: Munich Security Conference.
8. TASS: About 40 meaningful amendments expected to be included in Russian Constitution.
9. Meduza: Russian government plans massive remote ballot effort to increase turnout in constitutional reform vote.
10. The Nation: Stephen Cohen, The Kremlin Plans to Modernize Russia, Again. Putin’s quest for a transformed nation and his own legacy.
11. Der Spiegel: Christian Esch, How Russia’s President Is Preparing His Own Succession. As he approaches the twilight of his presidency, Vladimir Putin is seeking changes to the constitution to pave the way for someone else to take over. Or is he?
12. Intellinews.com: Russian consumer demand rises in January on growing real income levels.
13. www.rt.com: Sanctions? Russia attracts $21 BILLION in foreign investments.
14. Moscow Times: Jake Cordell, Alexander Galitsky: From Soviet Engineer to Libertarian Investor. The father of the Russian internet tells The Moscow Times he wants to kill all borders and warns that society is falling behind technology.
15. Vedomosti: Russian op-ed hails end to restrictions on scientists’ foreign contacts.
16. Awful Avalanche: Simonyan: Why I Refuse To Tie The Knot – awfulavalanche.wordpress.com/2020/02/21/simonyan-why-i-refuse-to-tie-the-knot/
17. TASS: Kommersant: NATO battling two ‘non-existent’ Russian military concepts.
18. AP: Putin hails U.S. for helping prevent terror attack in Russia.
19. Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Igor Dunayevskiy: Who Is To Save the Treaty? Trump Is Unable To Find a Special Envoy For Talks on a New Nuclear Agreement With Russia.
20. Interfax: Russia, Europe need common dream about future – Russian human rights council head.
21. The National Interest: Paul Pillar, Cold War Containment and the Middle East. To treat the Middle East as a second coming of the USSR and make it a fixation of U.S. policy is an insult to the United States’ global stature and significance.
22. Meduza: Worst-case scenarios . Russia and Turkey are on the brink of open warfare in Syria. Here’s where each side miscalculated and why a hot war is still unlikely.
23. Intellinews.com: Turkey ‘asks US for Patriot missiles to help counter Russia-backed Syrian troops’. Russian air strikes have been key to Assad’s advance across rebel-held bastions in Syria.
24. The National Interest: Matthew Petti, Will Turkey Drag America Into a ‘World War III Scenario’ With Russia? The U.S. military is cautious about the role it is playing in Syria while the State Department is eager to step in and help Turkey as it tussles with Russia.
25. Strategic Culture Foundation editorial: As Usual, Western Media Grossly Distort Syria’s Conflict – strategic-culture.org/news/2020/02/21/as-usual-western-media-grossly-distort-syrias-conflict/
26. Counterpunch: KERRON Ó LUAIN, The Soviet Century. (re Moshe Lewin) – counterpunch.org/2020/02/21/the-soviet-century/
27. Medium.com: Steven Pifer, Ukraine: Six Years After the Maidan.
28. Twitter: Balazs Jarabik, Timely Ukraine Poll.
29. www.rt.com: Another ‘highly likely’-style accusation: Moscow brushes aside ‘evidence-free’ Georgia cyberattack – rt.com/news/481374-russia-georgia-cyberattack-blame/
30. New York Times: Lawmakers Are Warned That Russia Is Meddling to Re-elect Trump.
31. Facebook: Fred Weir, Re “Russia Is Helping Elect Trump Again, Intel Official Says”
32. CNN.com: America’s Russia nightmare is back. (excerpt)
33. USAToday.com: Let’s try to protect the 2020 election. Here’s how to prove you’re not a Russian troll.
34. www.rt.com: Kremlin: Claims of Russian backing for Trump in US election ‘untrue’ & down to ‘paranoia’ – rt.com/russia/481381-trump-us-russia-paranoia-elections/
35. www.rt.com: Russiagate returns: MSM & #Resistance ecstatically exploit evidence-free NYT claim Moscow ‘helping Trump in 2020’ – rt.com/op-ed/481332-russiagate-returns-trump-2020/
36. Facebook: Fred Weir, Re “Experts Call BS on Bernie’s Russian Bot Theory”
37. Washington Examiner: Tom Rogan, Why the Trump-Russia intelligence report doesn’t quite add up.
38. The Unz Review: The Saker, Reading the “Traitors” – a Good or a Bad Idea? (Re Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Vladimir Rezun…and Putin) – unz.com/tsaker/reading-the-traitors-a-good-or-a-bad-idea/