RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2015-#36 table of contents with links :: Tuesday 24 February 2015

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Johnson’s Russia List
JRL 2015-#36 :: Tuesday 24 February 2015
E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net
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1. Kremlin.ru: Interview with VGTRK. (Putin)
2. Interfax-Ukraine: Poroshenko pledges to return Crimea to Ukraine.
3. Moscow Times: Russians Increasingly Worried About Foreign Military Threat.
4. Moscow Times: U.S. Poll Finds More Americans Support Arming Ukraine Government.
5. www.rt.com: US arming Kiev would ‘explode’ situation in E. Ukraine – Russian Foreign Ministry.
6. Politico.com: Ash Carter warns Russia on nukes. “U.S. responses must make clear to Russia that if it does not return to compliance, our responses will make them less secure than they are today.”
7. Sputnik: Poroshenko Gets His Guns in UAE: Unlike Europe, Arabs Aren’t Afraid of WW3.
8. Interfax: Over 70% of Russians feel economic crisis effects – poll.
9. Reuters: Ukraine rebels say they withdrawing weapons; Kiev doubtful.
10. Interfax: DPR Defense Ministry denies preparing Mariupol offensive.
11. Interfax: Kyiv yet to guarantee security of ICRC workers in Donetsk airport.
12. Fort Russ: “Ukraine will go to war in late March”–Zakharchenko.
13. www.rt.com: Kiev cash-for-gas fail could cost EU its supply – Gazprom.
14. Business New Europe: Graham Stack, Tide starts to turn against corruption in Ukraine one year after Maidan.
15. Kyiv Post: Petrenko reflects on year in office, reports early achievements of lustration.
16. Russia Insider: Dmitriy Korotkov. ‘Dictator’ Yanukovich Couldn’t Hold a Candle to New Ukraine Government.
17. The Interpreter: Paul Goble, The Birth of a Nation.
18. Fort Russ: Aidar battalion commander Melnichuk starts a fight in a Kiev TV studio.
19. International Business Times: Kristina Jovanovski, One Year After Euromaidan Revolution, Ukraine Faces Same Corruption, War, Even Worse Economy.
20. www.opendemocracy.net: Yulia Gorbunova, The red tape tied around Donbass. Daily life in the Donbass region can be described as follows: ‘If there is a Ukrainian flag, there is life. If there isn’t – you are on your own.’
21. TASS: Search for 8,000 army draft evaders unleashed in Ukraine’s south-west.
22. History News Network: Walter Moss, Seven Reasons Why We Should Not Send Weapons to Ukraine.
23. CNBC.com: This year’s best performing stock market…Russia.
24. www.marketwatch.com: Michael Brush, It’s time to buy Russia. 5 reasons to go long on investments in Russia.
25. Russia Direct: Why Russia won’t be able to modernize economy in times of crisis. RD Interview: Alexander Auzan, dean and professor at Lomonosov Moscow State University’s Faculty of Economics, discusses the major challenges facing Russia’s economy, including a potential brain drain, slumping oil prices and the difficulties of modernizing an economy dependent on natural resources.
26. Moscow Times: Mark Adomanis, Moody’s Russia Downgrade Is Not Political.
27. The National Interest: Fiona Hill, This Is What Putin Really Wants. Putin doesn’t want to restore the Russian Empire or a new geopolitical order. He wants something else entirely.
28. Politico.com: Keith Gessen, What If Putin Were Nice? In truth, there would be very little difference in Russia’s anti-Western policies.
29. http://readrussia.com: Mark Adomanis, Yes the Russians Are Rational. No You Don’t Have to Like Their Policy.
30. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Press Digest: UN Security Council must return to principles, says Lavrov.
31. Russian Foreign Ministry: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s address at the Security Council open debate on “Maintaining International Peace and Security: reflect on history, reaffirm the strong commitment to the purpose and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations,” New York, February 23, 2015.
32. TASS: Latvian PM warns West against military interference in Ukraine conflict.
33. Eurasianet.org: Sanita Jemberga and Inga Spriņge, Latvia Torn Between Money and Fear of Russia.
34. Transitions Online: Martin Ehl, Russian Demons in Central Europe. Many of the region’s citizens have an aversion to anything Russian. That is to their detriment.
35. Russia Direct: Yury Barmin, Could Russia join the fight against ISIS by arming Libya? Providing military aid to Libya to help fight ISIS extremists could mark the start of Moscow’s new strategy to prevent a spillover of radical Islam to the Caucasus. It might also be part of a broader plan to expand Moscow’s naval presence in the Mediterranean.
36. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Islamic State not just a Western problem, says top Russian spy. The head of Russia’s FSB security agency said today that some 1,700 Russians are in Iraq and Syria fighting for IS forces – and that Russia and the West need to work more closely together to deal with jihadis.
37. TASS: What makes some Russian citizens go to fight for Islamic State?
38. TASS: CNN set for Russia broadcasting comeback – media supervisor.
39. Moscow Times: Peter Rutland, No Arab Spring in Russia, Yet.
40. The American Interest: Maria Snegovaya, Domestic Costs Are Rising for Mr. Putin. Just how fragile is Vladimir Putin’s support? As far as war in Ukraine goes, it’s a lot more fragile than most outside observers think.

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

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