RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#169 :: Friday, 18 September 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#169 :: Friday, 18 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. rt.com: Survey reveals most Russians prioritise high living standards & peace over status: Only 31% want their country to be a superpower.
2. Intellinews: Novichok found in a water bottle in Navalny’s hotel room
3. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, CUPS OF TEA AND BOTTLES OF WATER – irrussianality.wordpress.com/2020/09/17/cups-of-tea-and-bottles-of-water/
4. rt.com: Bryan MacDonald, Latest Navalny Novichok water bottle poisoning claim stretches all credibility, but Western media swallows it without question – rt.com/russia/501041-navalny-novichok-media-credibility/
5. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, A TALE OF TWO BOTTLES – NAVALNY POISON SLOWEST ACTING WEAPON IN ASSASSINATION HISTORY – johnhelmer.net/a-tale-of-two-bottles-navalny-poison-slowest-acting-weapon-in-assassination-history/print/
6. Meduza: Navalny’s team reveals hotel room search that uncovered water bottle with traces of Novichok-type poison.
8. TASS: Too much absurdity in Navalny case to take anyone’s word on trust – Kremlin – tass.com/politics/1202313
9. rt.com: Marcello Ferrada de Noli, Are Western attacks on the Russian Covid-19 vaccine a corporate cold war against humanity? – rt.com/op-ed/500981-sputnik-v-cold-war-covid/
10. NYU Jordan Center: William Pyle, Russians’ “Impressionable Years”
11. The Economist: Winning from death’s door. Alexei Navalny, Russia’s poisoned opposition leader, has a Siberian success. President Vladimir Putin takes a knock in local elections.
12. rt.com: Good Bye, Lenin? 40% of Russians want Soviet founding father to be removed from Red Square mausoleum & finally buried.
13. TASS: Support measures during pandemic in Russia were effective – Kremlin.
14. RIA Novosti: Kudrin has called the forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development for GDP growth optimistic.
15. Intellinews: Ben Aris, Lukashenko warns of war, closes the Western borders … not.
16. Moscow Times: ‘Harsh Times Ahead’: Russia’s Emergency Loan to Belarus Changes Little for Embattled Lukashenko. The $1.5 billion will largely go towards refinancing debt owed to Russia, and is only a fraction of what Belarus needs to avoid a crash in living standards.
17. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir and Tatiana Shuntova, Why Russian aid for Lukashenko doesn’t end Belarus crisis. Belarus is dependent on Russia to navigate out of its crisis. But experts indicate that despite his summit with Vladimir Putin, President Lukashenko is the most immediate concern for the Kremlin and protesters alike.
18. Carnegie Moscow Center: Artyom Shraibman, Can Moscow Manage a Power Transition in Belarus? – carnegie.ru/commentary/82715
19. rt.com: Bradley Blankenship, Lukashenko may well survive this crisis, but how can Belarus avoid another one in the future? – rt.com/op-ed/500858-lukashenko-belarus-russia-putin/
20. The American Conservative: Ted Galen Carpenter, The West Shouldn’t Intervene In Belarus. Russia considers its neighbor a buffer between itself and NATO. The consequences of a provocation could be disastrous.
21. Carnegie Moscow Center: Dmitri Trenin, Russian-German Relations: Back to the Future. Berlin is ending the era launched by Gorbachev of a trusting and friendly relationship with Moscow. Russia, for its part, no longer expects anything from Germany, and therefore does not feel obliged to take into account its opinion or interests. – carnegie.ru/commentary/82713
22. Riddle: Nord Stream 2 and more sanctions: the endgame begins. Ivan Tkachev looks at whether sanctions could bring the Nord Stream-2 story to an end. – ridl.io/en/nord-stream-2-and-more-sanctions-the-endgame-begins/
23. Indian Punchline: M.K.Bhadrakumar, The Sino-Russian Alliance Comes of Age – Part 2 – indianpunchline.com/the-sino-russian-alliance-comes-of-age-part-2/
24. Russia Matters: Levada: Russians Continue to View US as Most Hostile, Belarus and China as Friendliest Allies.
25. Russian International Affairs Council: Igor Ivanov, Mistrust between Russia and the United States Has Reached an All-Time High – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/mistrust-between-russia-and-the-united-states-has-reached-an-all-time-high
26. Russian International Affairs Council: Andrey Kortunov, Can A New Life for the UN Start at 75? – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/can-a-new-life-for-the-un-start-at-75/
27. Russia Matters: Paul Saunders, Evolving Global Order Makes a P5 Summit Ineffective.
28. Washington Times: Edward Lozansky, Which way for America? Will Trump=Putin-Xi trifecta come to the forefront at United Nations?
29. Russian International Affairs Council: Aleksandr Aksenenok, Russia and Syria: Nuances in Allied Relations – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/russia-and-syria-nuances-in-allied-relations/
30. TASS: Russian embassy asks US to explain report on assistance to ‘Ukrainian units in Crimea’
31. Intellinews: Robert Homans, Ukraine’s the Old Rotten System is alive and well.
32. armenian.usc.edu: Q&A With Pietro Shakarian: On Anastas Mikoyan, Armenia and Karabakh (excerpt)
33. Interfax: Moscow sees importance of Russian theme in U.S. election campaign – Lavrov
34. Axios.com: Biden’s hardline Russia reset
35. Wall Street Journal: Kimberley Strassel, From Russia (to Biden) With Love. Senate Democrats try to smear colleagues for investigating Hunter and Ukraine.

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