RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2015-#78 table of contents with links :: Johnson’s Russia List – Monday, April 20, 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#78 :: Monday 20 April 2015
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RUSSIA

1. Moscow Times: Fyodor Lukyanov, Putin Wants Peaceful Coexistence With the West.
2. The National Interest: Graham Allison and Dimitri K. Simes, Russia and America: Stumbling to War. Could a U.S. response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine provoke a confrontation that leads to a U.S.-Russian war?
3. TASS: Expert: Russia and NATO should mend cooperation. (Alexey Arbatov)
4. Kremlin.ru: Direct line with Vladimir Putin (transcript conclusion)
5. Moscow Times: Putin Helps Russian Pet Lover to Get a New (Welsh) Puppy.
6. Russia Direct: Ivan Tsvetkov, Direct Line: This is how Putin talks to the world. The closest analogy to the “Direct Line” between President Vladimir Putin and the Russian people is the practice of European medieval kings, who periodically reached out to their subjects, giving alms or even curing ailments through the royal touch.
7. Russia Direct: Dmity Polikanov, Putin’s ‘Direct Line’ did not offer any direct solutions. While President Putin continues to show remarkable understanding of what’s happening in the international arena, there is growing concern that he may be letting Russia’s domestic problems drift without developing any long-term strategy for addressing them.
8.The National Interest: Nikolas Gvosdev, The Ultimate Game of Chicken: The West vs. Russia. Could Russia become the next ‘Iran’ as far as sanctions are concerned?
9. Reuters: Putin says ready to work with United States: TV.
10. Sputnik: Putin Talks Chechen War, Oligarchs, Ukraine, Sanctions in New TV Film.
11. TASS: Putin: Westerners only love Russia that would need humanitarian aid.
12. Moscow Times: Weak Russian Economic Data Blunt Putin’s Optimism.
13. Reuters: Russian Ruble Rebounds But Analysts Remain Cautious on ‘Rally’ Talk.
14. Russia Direct: The ruble is rebounding, but for how long? Debates: Top economists weigh in on the implications of the strengthening of the Russian currency for the nation’s economy and speculate about possible future scenarios for the ruble in 2015.
15. CNBC.com: Russia has bigger concerns than oil, ruble: Deputy PM.
16. Bloomberg: Russia Economy Recovering as Oil Reliance Eases, Dvorkovich Says.
17. Moscow Times/Vedomosti: Russian Health Care Is Dying a Slow Death.
18. BBC: Bridget Kendall, Russian town of Oryol trapped in Soviet past.
19. Interfax: Sixty percent of Russian citizens deem death penalty acceptable – poll.
20. Bloomberg: Leonid Ragozin, Why Putin’s Next War Will Be at Home. A pollster and a former Putin adviser predict new popularity problems-and renewed focus on domestic enemies.
21. Reuters: Russian Opposition Parties Combine Forces After Nemtsov Killing.
22. www.rt.com: Navalny pairs with ex-PM Kasyanov for forthcoming elections.
23. Bloomberg: Leonid Bershidsky, Poor Putin’s Wealthy Friends.
24. The Guardian: Timothy Garton Ash, There is another Russia beyond Putin. Despite the Russian president’s popularity, hopes remain of a post-imperial state at ease with itself and its neighbours.
25. Business New Europe: James Henderson, Is Gazprom’s changing export strategy a threat to Europe?
26. Huffington Post: Reese Schonfeld, The Russians Are Not Coming II.
27. AFP: Russia’s vast Arctic gas project aims to avoid Ukraine deep freeze.
28. Sputnik: Enter the Dragon and the Bear: US Faces Its Ultimate Nightmare – Eric Kraus.
29. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Mikhail Mamonov, Moscow and Beijing must learn to be upfront with each other.
30. New York Times: JAMES E. CARTWRIGHT and VLADIMIR DVORKIN, How to Avert a Nuclear War.
31. www.rt.com: ‘We’re not interested in a fair fight’ – US army commander urges NATO to confront Russia.
32. Moscow Times: Konstantin Makienko, No Iran Deal on the Horizon for Russia.
33. Moscow Times: Not In Cinemas, But ‘Child 44’ Will Be Available in Russia – Culture Minister.
34. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Kommersant: ‘Let all the flowers bloom’: Writer Alexei Ivanov on Russian cultural values. “Bad Weather” is the latest novel by Alexei Ivanov, a writer from the Urals. RBTH is publishing an abridged version of an interview he gave to Kommersant newspaper on the book, as well as Russian history and cultural life

UKRAINE

35. Reuters: Truce tenuous as Ukraine leader tackles economy, oligarchs.
36. Interfax: Four killed, twelve wounded in DPR over past week – report.w
37. The National Interest: Raymond Sontag, Petro Poroshenko’s REAL Problem (And It’s Not Russia). “If basic rule of law and tolerance for dissent are not observed, what chance does Ukrainian democracy have?”
38. TASS: PACE president calls for efficient decentralization system in Ukraine.
39. The Guardian: Lily Hyde, Ukraine to rewrite Soviet history with controversial ‘decommunisation’ laws. President set to sign measures that ban Communist symbols and offer public recognition and payouts for fighters in militias implicated in atrocities.
40. Euromaidan Press: Defending decommunization: expert answers criticism (interview with Andriy Kohut)
41. Interfax: Ukrainian-U.S. Fearless Guardian 2015 military exercise begins in Ukraine.
42. Business New Europe: Ukraine plays hard ball with private creditors.
43. Ukrayina TV (Kyiv): Premier sees efforts to destabilize Ukraine following “classic Russian scenario”
44. Wall Street Journal: VITALY KLITCHKO, Welcome Back to Kiev. In less than a year, order has been restored and reforms enacted to maintain in Kiev a free and fair business environment.
45. www.rt.com: Polish general ‘calls back support’ of Ukraine over nationalist glorification.
46. Paul Goble: Ukrainians View the People as Sovereign; Russians Think Putin Is.
47. http://thetruthspeaker.co: Graham Phillips, 10 Reasons Ukraine is Dead.
48. The Globe and Mail (Canada): Serhii Plokhy, The Soviet Union didn’t die.
49. www.opendemocracy.net: Anna Yalovkina, Russian dissidents seek asylum in Kyiv. As oppression heats up in Russia, post-revolutionary Ukraine is attracting political émigrés from the Russian opposition.