RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#123 contents with links :: Monday 2 June 2014

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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#123 :: 2 June 2014
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1. Interfax-Ukraine: Nearly half of Ukrainians support EU accession – poll.
2. Interfax: Ukraine’s GDP could contract by 5% in 2014 – Fitch.
3. Bloomberg: Russia Gives Ukraine Leeway on Gas as Five Rebels Killed.
4. Interfax: Russia getting support from European Commission in Ukraine gas talks – Novak.
5. RIA Novosti: Russia Demands Kiev to Pay Gas Debt in Full Before June 9.
6. Carnegie Moscow Center: Dmitri Trenin, The Sanctions Crossroads.
7. Wall Street Journal: Kiev’s Mayor-Elect Klitschko Reverses Call to Quit Maidan Protest Camp. Many Demonstrators Insist Encampment Should Stay to Keep Ukraine’s New Leaders in Check
8. RIA Novosti: US to Give Ukraine $18 Mln in Military Aid.
9. Al Jazeera America: Dmitri Trenin, Russia’s goal in Ukraine remains the same: To keep NATO out. Analysis: Moscow’s next moves will be to strengthen obstacles stopping Kiev joining Western economic, military blocs
10. Interfax: Russia to take necessary measures if NATO military potential comes closer to its borders – Grushko.
11. Interfax: Moscow worried about intensified NATO activity in north Baltic region.
12. Interfax: Russians back economic, financial aid for southeast Ukraine – poll.
13. The International New York Times: Samuel Charap, Ukraine’s Festering Divisions.
14. Al Jazeera America: Tatiana Zhurzhenko, Ukraine: Elections without the East. Ukraine’s presidential elections did not bring back the rebellious Donbas.
15. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: ‘Tymoshenko will head up a third Maydan against Poroshenko’. five main questions for experts on the situation in Ukraine.
16. CNN.com: Freeland: Mood in Ukraine determined, optimistic.
17. DEBKAfile (Israel): The US President’s foreign policy leaves Ukraine’s chocolate king in a box.
18. Russia Direct: Alexey Fenenko, The good, the bad and the ugly: Three scenarios for Ukraine. The election of Petro Poroshenko complicates matters for Russia, which must find a new way to resolve the crisis in Eastern Ukraine. Here’s how the rest of the year might play out.
19. http://reconsideringrussia.org: Pietro Shakarian, How Influential is Ukraine’s Far-Right?
20. http://geostrategicforecasting.net: Gordon Hahn, President-Elect Poroshenko and the Future of the Ukrainian Ultra-Nationalism.
21. RIA Novosti: Special Op in Eastern Ukraine May Last as Long as One Year – Pro-Kiev Militia.
22. The Sunday Times (UK): Mark Franchetti, Rebel city waits for Kiev’s final onslaught. Ukraine’s new president has vowed to quell Russian separatists in ‘hours, not weeks’, but he risks humiliation and high civilian casualties if he fails
23. RIA Novosti: Lavrov Criticizes West for Media Spin, Blackout on Ukraine.
24. www.rt.com: Multiple fatalities feared after fighter jet attacks admin HQ in Lugansk, Ukraine.
25. www.rt.com: ‘War is a plague’: Donetsk students’ pacifist song leaves TV anchor in tears on air (VIDEO)
26. Deutsche Welle (Germany): Ukraine conflict means flight for those who can.
27. MicroBalrog: Meanwhile, in the Ukrainian Army
28. Reuters: More foreign fighters break cover among Ukraine separatists.
29. Komsomolskaya Pravda: Interview with Donetsk people’s republic defence minister Igor Strelkov.
30. http://reconsideringrussia.org: Pietro Shakarian, Who are the Donbas Rebels?
31. Moscow Times: Alyona Getmanchuk, Ukraine Needs New Faces.
32. Business New Europe: Mark Galeotti, Cautious optimism for Ukraine.
33. Financial Times: Western optimism rises as diplomacy takes centre stage on Ukraine.
34. Wall Street Journal: U.S. to Press Financial Weaponry In Talks With European Allies on Russia. Obama Administration Relies Increasingly on Treasury Unit to Hone Sanctions Strategy.
35. New York Times: In GPS Battle, Russia Sets Restrictions of Its Own.
36. The Times (UK): Russia fumes over Putin’s smoking ban.
37. Moscow Times: Fraud Allegations Mar Public Chamber Elections.
38. Business New Europe: Is a party about to start in Russian stocks?
39. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Vzglyad: Historic agreement makes Eurasian Union a reality.
40. Business New Europe: Jacob Grapengiesser, COMMENT: Sino-Russia gas deal represents a fundamental change.
41. Al Jazeera America: Immanuel Wallerstein, The Russian-Chinese geopolitical game. The two countries seek a restructuring of interstate alliances.
42. Moscow Times/Vedomosti: Kirill Kharatyan, Russia’s Foreign Trade Can’t Grow by Decree.
43. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Two thirds of Russian investors are ready to invest in BRICS markets.
44. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Five Arguments Russians Make for Decentralization of Ukraine Even More Compelling for Russian Federation.
45. Moscow Times: Test: How Does State Search Tool Sputnik Compare to Google and Yandex?
46. Reuters: Capello hones down Russia squad to final 23-man list.
47. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russia’s got talent: The making of the nation’s future musicians and artists.
48. Interfax: Snowden must apply for extension if he decides to stay in Russia – head of Federal Migration Service council.
49. Russia Direct: Richard Weitz, Afghan crisis can only be solved by the collective efforts of Russia, US. As the U.S. prepares to wind down its presence in Afghanistan and discontinue security cooperation with Russia, military officials in Moscow ponder the future of the troubled region.
50. RIA Novosti: Russia Says Ready to Cooperate With New Abkhaz Leadership.
51. New York Times: President of Georgian Abkhazia Resigns Under Pressure.
52. http://reconsideringrussia.org: Pietro Shakarian, Abkhazia’s Revolution: Background and Analysis.