RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#160 :: Thursday, 3 September 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#160 :: Thursday, 3 September 2020
A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or The George Washington University.
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1. Paul Goble: Russia Officially Passes One Million Coronavirus Infections Mark – An Understatement or a Marginal One?
2. AFP: Russian Economy Under Pressure After Navalny Novichok Poisoning. Investors fear sanctions, sending ruble and stock markets into the red.
3. rt.com: Despite stereotypes about dependence on hydrocarbons, Kremlin says Russia is gradually reducing economic reliance on oil & gas – rt.com/russia/499713-kremlin-reduce-importance-oil-gas/
4. Indian Punchline: M.K. Bhadrakumar, U.S.-Russia tensions flare up on multiple fronts.
5. Defense News: Ball’s in Russia’s court on New START extension, says DoD official.
6. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to questions from MGIMO students and academic staff on the occasion of the beginning of a new academic year, Moscow, September 1, 2020. (excerpt) – mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/4307068
7. Valdai Discussion Club: Mikhail Konarovsky, Afghanistan: New Old Problems – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/afghanistan-new-old-problems/
8. Valdai Discussion Club: Oleg Barabanov, 75th Anniversary of the End of WWII and the Politics of Historical Memory – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/75th-anniversary-of-the-end-of-wwii/
9. The National Interest: Andranik Migranyan, Four Reasons Why Regime Change Won’t Occur In Belarus. Russian influence will be critical in ending the crisis.
10. TASS: Nezavisimaya Gazeta: What’s Moscow’s condition for supporting Lukashenko.
11. Moskovsky Komsomolets: Mikhail Rostovsky: Dangerous defect of Putin’s Belarus plan.
12. Intellinews: Ben Aris, Belarus’s economy in danger of a crisis in the face of sustained popular protests, says IIF. Belarus only has $8.9bn in reserves, not enough to support the ruble and meet its debt obligations this year without Russia’s help.
13. Paul Goble: Belarusian Protests Won’t Spread to Russia Because Russians Fear They’d Disintegrate Their Country, Lichikhin Says.
14. American Committee on East-West Accord: Tony Kevin, Why History Matters in Belarus – eastwestaccord.com/tony-kevin-why-history-matters-in-belarus/
15. The Nation: Vadim Nikitin, As Alexei Navalny’s Life Hangs in the Balance, So Does the Fate of the Russian Opposition. The Russian opposition leader’s unique gift for uniting disparate people, ideas, and movements undoubtedly helped make him a target.
16. Washington Post editorial: It’s no wonder Putin thinks he can get away with poisoning his adversaries. He has Trump in his pocket – washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/its-no-wonder-putin-thinks-he-can-get-away-with-poisoning-his-adversaries/2020/09/02/771028de-ed38-11ea-b4bc-3a2098fc73d4_story.html
17. rt.com: Paul Robinson, Navalny case a serious problem for Kremlin: International spotlight means Russia has to transparently investigate & find answers – rt.com/russia/499764-russia-investigate-navalny-case/
18. Sputnik: Merkel Reiterates That Berlin’s Reaction to Navalny Case ‘Depends on Russia’ – sputniknews.com/europe/202009031080356289-merkel-reiterates-that-berlins-reaction-to-navalny-case-depends-on-russia/
19. TASS: Media: Germany alleges Navalny poisoned with Novichok-class agent.
20. TASS: Kremlin sees no reason to blame Navalny incident on Russia – tass.com/politics/1196877
21. Interfax: Omsk medics disagree with German laboratory’s conclusions on Navalny being poisoned with Novichok.
22. rt.com: Developers of ‘Novichok’ say Navalny’s symptoms aren’t consistent with poisoning by their deadly creation, reject German claims – rt.com/russia/499732-novichok-developers-navalny-symptoms/
23. Meduza: ‘There are better poisons if you really want to kill someone’. The chemical weapons expert who led the OPCW’s mission to Salisbury after the Novichok attack on the Skripals explains Alexey Navalny’s situation.
24. https://gilbertdoctorow.com: Gilbert Doctorow, Novichok and Nonsense: From a post-factual to a post-logic world – gilbertdoctorow.com/2020/09/03/novichok-and-nonsense-from-a-post-factual-to-a-post-logic-world/
25. rt.com: Dmitry Babich, West rushes to accuse Moscow of ‘Novichok-type’ poisoning of Navalny…but would Russia really have reason to get rid of him? – rt.com/op-ed/499741-navalny-poisoning-western-blame-russia/
26. The Times (UK): Marc Bennetts, How the Kremlin benefits from attack on critic.
27. AP: Pressure Grows for Germany to Rethink Pipeline With Russia.
28. The Guardian: Luke Harding, Using novichok against Navalny is a Russian message of menace. World leaders can be in little doubt: the evidence leads directly to Moscow and Putin.
29. The American Spectator: John Jiang, The Absurdity of the Latest ‘Russian Interference’ Story. A tiny troll farm is blown up into international news.
30. Peace Data: PeaceData Editorial Team Responds to Smears and Baseless Accusations From Facebook, Inc. And Worldwide Corporate Media.
31. Forbes: Davey Winder, Have Russian Hackers Stolen Millions Of Election 2020 Voter Registrations?

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