Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#211 :: Friday, 22 November 2013

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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#211 :: 22 November 2013
E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net
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POLITICS

1. Moscow Times: Enthusiastic Kudrin Returns to Kremlin’s Policymaking Table.
2. BBC Monitoring: Levada Center: Putin, Medvedev ratings high but falling in second half of 2013, poll shows.
3. Interfax: Russian opposition parties’ leaders praise meeting with Putin.
4. BBC Monitoring: No such thing as political persecution in Russia – Putin.
5. Interfax: There is no persecution of political views in Russia, but ‘law can’t be violated with actions’ – Putin.
6. Interfax: Greenpeace has noble goals but wrong methods – Putin.
7. The Voice of Russia: Russian language returning: number of Russian speaking grows.
8. Washington Post: DNA indicates Eurasian roots for Native Americans, new study says. (DJ: Washington Redskins changing name to Washington Siberians)
8. Washington Post: DNA indicates Eurasian roots for Native Americans, new study says. (DJ: Washington Redskins changing name to Washington Siberians)
10. Moscow Times/BBC Monitoring: What the Papers Say, Nov. 22, 2013.
11. Grani.ru: Russian Pundit Views Lack of ‘Intrigue’ in Putin-Medvedev Dynamics. (Ilya Milshteyn)
12. ITAR-TASS: Duma to pass law on unified Russian Supreme Court.
13. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Moscow mayor: No more mosques in my city. The mayor says that the move is meant to discourage illegal immigration, but critics say it is corruption that is fueling migration, not mosques.
14. Moscow Times: Michael Bohm, My Clash With Homophobes on Russian TV.
15. Voice of America: James Brooke, ‘Stalingrad’ Blockbuster Revives Russia’s Trauma, Glory.

ECONOMY

16. Interfax: Putin urges govt, experts to determine practical steps for stable economic development.
17. ITAR-TASS: Russia Press Review, Low energy efficiency hinders economic growth in Russia.
18. RIA Novosti: US asset management giant pulls $100M from Russia.
19. Interfax: Rostec: Russian defense sector has to assert itself in global struggle for technological superiority.
20. RIA Novosti: Russia to Build Disposal Facility for Soviet-Era Nuclear Waste.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

21. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Ivan Tsvetkov, “The far right, gangsters, and monopolists”: the Soviet interpretation of the Kennedy assassination. Thanks to John F. Kennedy’s actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which allowed the Soviets to save face, the reporting on his assassination may have been more accurate in the Soviet Union than anywhere else.
22. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir and Mike Eckel, Why Soviets were no fans of Lee Harvey Oswald. A young engineer who worked with Oswald in Minsk remembers ‘a simple martinet,’ while Khrushchev’s son recalls ‘genuine shock’ in the Kremlin on the news of JFK’s assassination.
23. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Three bullets for Kennedy. A former KGB colonel who knew Lee Harvey Oswald spoke with RBTH about Oswald’s live in the Soviet Union as part of our commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
24. Russian International Affairs Council: International Relations are in for Democratization. Interview with Fyodor Lukyanov.
25. Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Russian Pundit: Russia’s Eurasian Union Project Should Focus More on Asia. (Lukyanov)
26. Russian International Affairs Council: Ivan Timofeev, Modernization of the Russian Far East: “Fortress Russia” scenario?
27. www.foreignpolicy.com: Madeleine Albright and Igor Ivanov, On Syria and Iran, U.S. and Russia Can Work Together. Only cooperation between Moscow and Washington can solve the Middle East’s most vexing problems.
28. Interfax: Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, U.S. Department of Justice agree on possible ways to resolve extradition issue.
29. Interfax: Moscow Patriarchate hopes Putin’s Vatican visit will make Orthodox-Catholic ties stronger.
30. Russia Beyond the Headlines/RBC: Russian polar expert says Arctic too important to ignore. Viktor Boyarsky, the director of the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Museum, talks about what should be done with the Greenpeace “pirates,” and why Russia needs the Arctic.
31. Valdai Discussion Club: Tatiana Romanova, European Union: Russia’s Interests and Transnational Relations.
32. Reuters: EU loses out on Ukraine, but may have dodged a bullet.
33. New York Tiimes: Ukraine Blames I.M.F. for Collapse of Accord With European Union.
34. Business New Europe: Ukraine halts EU trade talks, asks for three-way meeting with Russia.
35. Reuters: Factbox: Facts about Ukraine’s ties with Russia and Europe.
36. www.russiatoday.com: Putin: EU blackmailing Ukraine over halt in trade deal
37. ITAR-TASS: Russian Press Review, Ukraine takes time-out in association with the European Union.
38. ITAR-TASS: Ukraine postpones EU association agreement; prospects look vague.
39. New York Times: Russian ‘Fertilizer War’ Appears to Wind Down. (re Belarus)
40. ITAR-TASS: Russia and Georgia wish to build long-standing relations.