Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#224 :: Thursday, 12 December 2013

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#224 :: 12 December 2013
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POLITICS

1. Reuters: Putin admits Russia’s economic woes home-grown.
2. Interfax: Putin: Russia seeks to be a world leader but does not aspire to super-power status.
3. ITAR-TASS: Putin’s state-of-nation address to Federal Assembly. (highlights)
4. ITAR-TASS: Putin for the first time ever conceptualizes Russia’s adherence to conservatism.
5. Russia Beyond the Headlines: The making of the Russian constitution. December 12, 2013 marks 20 years since the adoption of the Russian constitution. In commemoration of that date, Andrey Goltsblat reflects on his time as head of the expert group that drafted the document.
6. Moscow Times: What the Papers Say, Dec. 12, 2013.
7. Interfax: Putin sure new parties will offer competition to “political old-timers”
8. RIA Novosti: Putin Cautiously Urges Civil Society Role in Decision-Making.
9. Moscow Times: Putin Lays Out Illegal Migration Agenda During Annual Address.
10. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with representatives of Russia’s human rights community.
11. ITAR-TASS: Human rights defenders call for expanding amnesty. Russian Press Review.
12. Interfax: Zorkin: revolutions bring enormous suffering, society must live within constitutional framework.
13. Valdai Discussion Club: Sergei Shargunov, Constitution Day: Russia Needs to Soften its Practices.
14. Moscow Times: Q&A: Fate Intertwines Attorney Andrei Goltsblat and Russia’s Rule of Law .
15. Moscow Times: Supreme Court Finds Violations in Pussy Riot Prison Sentences.
16. Carnegie Moscow Center: Alexey Malashenko, Two Years After: Russia’s Political Scene on the Anniversary of the Protests.
17. Moskovsky Komsomolets: Political Analyst Compares and Contrasts Russian and Ukrainian Protests. (Stanislav Belkovsky)
18. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Putin’s Imperial Integration Plans are ‘Insanity,’ Inozemtsev Says.
19. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Celebrating Aitmatov and his examination of collective memory. The author of the acclaimed novel “The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years,” would have been 85 years old on Dec. 12.

ECONOMY

20. ITAR-TASS: Better investment climate needed for anti-offshore policy proposed by Putin.
21. Interfax: Kudrin agrees with Putin that internal reasons to blame for slowdown.
22. ITAR-TASS: Putin’s aide comments on “de-offshorization”
23. Moscow Times: Chris Weafer, Russia’s Path to Progress Goes Through OECD.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

24. RIA Novosti: Putin Says Bids to Gain Military Dominance Over Russia Futile.
25. Moscow Times: Putin Says New ‘Instantaneous’ Weapons Pose Danger to Global Stability.
26. ITAR-TASS: A new serious irritating factor may emerge in Russian-U.S. relations. Russian Press Review.
27. Interfax: Agreement on Iran challenges grounds to set up missile shield in Europe – Pushkov.
28. ITAR-TASS: Russia to react with mirror response if USA re-evaluates “Magnitsky List.” Russian Press Review.
29. Reuters: Russia seeks trade talks with Washington: Russian official.
30. Interfax: Joint Poll Highlights Russians’, Americans’ Stereotypical Views of One Another.
31. Reuters: Kiev protesters gather, EU and Putin joust.
32. Reuters: Ukraine protesters defy police, leaders reject talks with president.
33. ITAR-TASS: Igor Shuvalov: In dialogue with Ukraine, matters result, but not format.
34. Moscow Rossiya 24 TV: Russia to “support any decision” in Ukraine-EU row – first deputy premier.
35. Interfax: Ukrainian opposition says it will not join talks with authorities until its demands are met.
36. Interfax: Ukraine’s Klitschko says president “main evil”, must step down.
37. RIA Novosti: Russians Support Stronger Ties With Ukraine ­ Poll.
38. Business New Europe: Ukraine’s government withdraws riot police from Maidan as protestors dig in for the long haul.
39. Financial Times: Tough tactics back Yanukovich and ‘Family’ into a corner.
40. Moscow News: Anna Arutunyan, Euromaidan: Can’t Ukraine and Russia just get along?
41. Reuters: Russian state TV waves the flag for Putin in Ukraine.
42. Moscow Times: Sergei Aleksashenko, Ukraine Is Failing as a State.
43. Wall Street Journal: China Spins New Lesson From Soviet Union’s Fall. Chinese Film Blames Soviet Collapse Not on Communist System but on Individuals Who Betrayed It.
44. Interfax: Russia won’t give away North Pole – Chilingarov.
45. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Arctic resource race heats up, as Russia, Canada stake new claims.
46. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russian military returns to the Arctic.