RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2020-#32 :: Sunday-Monday, 23-24 February 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#32 :: Sunday-Monday, 23-24 February 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.
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1. The National Interest: Daniel DePetris, The Politicization of Russia Policy Is a Massive Mistake. Forget about the latest drama for a moment and consider this hypothesis: regardless of where you stand on the Trump presidency, Russia policy is now as politically explosive in the daily Washington grind as tax policy, healthcare policy, and social policy. And that could have a damaging effect on any president’s ability to get the bilateral relationship back on track.
2. Facebook: Fred Weir, Re “The Politicization of Russia Policy Is a Massive Mistake”
3. AP: Moscow targets Chinese with raids amid virus fears.
4. Kremlin.ru: Ukraine (Interview to TASS News Agency) – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/62835
5. Facebook: Ajay Goyal, TASS Putin Interviews.
6. The Bell: Putin goes YouTube style in new interview – thebell.io/en/liable-for-50-billion/
7. TASS: Kremlin dismisses Putin’s resignation research findings.
8. Meduza: Makarkin: Negotiating the end.
9. Moskovsky Komsomolets: Andrei Kamakin: Reason for haste over revision of constitution becomes clear.
10. Russia Matters: Simon Saradzhyan, Levada Polls Show Russian Public Opinion Toward West Is Thawing.
11. The Calvert Journal: 90s reloaded: freedom and excess in a wild Russian decade.
12. The Hill: Kevin Ryan, Arms control agreement with Russia should cover more than nuclear weapons.
13. Asia Times: Pepe Escobar, Putin keen to cool Turkish hawk down. Idlib is Erdogan’s last stand, but the fighting goes way beyond Syria – it’s shaping as another NATO-Russia proxy war.
13. Asia Times: Pepe Escobar, Putin keen to cool Turkish hawk down. Idlib is Erdogan’s last stand, but the fighting goes way beyond Syria – it’s shaping as another NATO-Russia proxy war.
14. Al-Monitor: The urgent conversation Trump, Putin need to have about Syria. As Idlib refugee crisis grows, US risks superpower confrontation over missiles.
15. Nikkei Asian Review (Japan): Dmitri Times, Coronavirus rocks the China-Russia partnership. As price of oil slides and Beijing mends US trade ties, Moscow frets.
16. Bloomberg: Libya Asks U.S. to Set Up Military Base to Counter Russia.
17. Financial Times: Georgia seeks more western military support to counter Russia threat. Foreign minister urges US and Europe to resist Moscow’s tightening grip on Black Sea.
18. Financial Times: Russia offers Belarus oil revenue compensation. Moscow seeks to smooth relations after change to its excise tax regime hit Minsk’s finances.
19. Postsocialism: Jeremy Morris, On intellectual journeys without destinations in Russian studies. – postsocialism.org/2020/02/21/on-intellectual-journeys-without-destinations-in-russian-studies/
20. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, THIS WEEK’S LUNACY.
21. Awful Avalanche: Ukraine Coronavirus Panic Underlying Causes – Part I – awfulavalanche.wordpress.com/2020/02/23/ukrainie-coronavirus-panic-underlying-causes-part-i/
22. Facebook: Vladimir Golstein, CoronaVirus. Ukraine, and Russia. 23. RFE/RL: U.S. Officials Link COVID-19 Disinformation Campaign To Russian Proxy Accounts. (excerpt)
23. RFE/RL: U.S. Officials Link COVID-19 Disinformation Campaign To Russian Proxy Accounts. (excerpt)
24. www.rt.com: Russia isn’t only behind election hacking! They’re also trying to smear US over coronavirus…according to State Department. – rt.com/usa/481485-coronavirus-russia-state-department/
25. NPR: How Russia And Other Foreign Actors Sow Disinformation In Elections.
26. Through Russian Eyes: Jonathan Haslam, Mr Bloomberg: Russia’s Alternative to Trump?
27. Moon of Alabama: Mike Bloomberg Is A Russian Asset.
28. AP: Security Adviser: I’ve Seen No Intel of Moscow Helping Trump.
29. Washington Post: Bernie Sanders briefed by U.S. officials that Russia is trying to help his presidential campaign.
30. TASS: US intelligence officials provide no evidence of Russian election meddling – reporter.
31. New York Times: David Sanger (Pulitzer Prize winner), Same Goal, Different Playbook: Why Russia Would Support Trump and Sanders. Vladimir Putin is eager both to take the sheen off U.S. democracy and for a counterpart who is less likely to challenge his territorial and nuclear ambitions. (excerpt)
32. The National Interest: Christian Whiton, Democrats Have a Plan to Beat Bernie Sanders: Call Him a Russian ‘Asset’. Explaining to primary voters that this reality awaits Democrats in November if they nominate Bernie might be more effective than pretending there is a Russian agent under every bed. In other words, the Democrat establishment would be better off not presuming its voters are stupid.
33. Facebook: Fred Weir, Bernie Sanders and Putin.
4. USAToday: Tom Nichols, Sanders was ridiculously naive about the Soviet Union. The Trump ads write themselves. Sanders was amazed at the open ‘self-criticism’ of his Soviet hosts, but they were playing him. I hope I’m not forced to vote for him to oust Trump.
35. Common Dreams:” Juan Cole, Why the Russian Petro-State Is Actually Terrified of a Bernie Sanders Presidency: The Green New Deal. If millions of Americans started driving electric cars with Federal tax breaks and an end to gasoline subsidies, American petroleum demand would plummet.
36. Consortiumnews.com: Joe Lauria, Apparent US Intel Meddling in US Election With ‘Report’ Russia is Aiding Sanders. Without any proof, The New York Times and Washington Post run “Russia helping Sanders” stories, and Sanders responds by bashing Russia.
37. www.rt.com: Democrats resurrect ‘Russiagate’ to go after both Trump and Bernie Sanders, hide their own election trickery.
38. Wired: Russia Doesn’t Want Bernie Sanders. It Wants Chaos. The point of Kremlin interference has always been to find democracy’s loose seams, and pull.
39. Forbes.com: Ellen Wald, Putin Can’t Be Rooting For Trump. Why Russia Needs A Democrat Win.
40. The Onion: Experts Concerned Pale Russian Mystic Constantly At Trump’s Side May Attempt To Influence 2020 Election.

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