RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#192 :: Monday, 26 October 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#192 :: Monday, 26 October 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. Kremlin.ru: Statement by Vladimir Putin on additional steps to de-escalate the situation in Europe in the wake of the termination of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/64270
2. Financial Times: Russia makes missile offer in effort to restart talks on arms control. Nato rejected previous proposals by Moscow to freeze deployment in western regions.
3. Kremlin.ru: Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club. (transcript continued) – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/64261
4. rt.com: Paul Robinson, ‘Pragmatic conservative’ Putin rejects totalitarian rule, but won’t embrace Western liberal democracy as Russia goes its own way – rt.com/russia/504428-putin-valdai-liberal-democracy/
5. Russian International Affairs Council: Andrey Kortunov, Russians Don’t Back Down – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/russians-don-t-back-down/
6. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, STRUGGLE FOR RECOGNITION – irrussianality.wordpress.com/2020/10/23/struggle-for-recognition/
7. Moscow Times: Coronavirus in Russia: The Latest News | Oct. 26.
8. TASS: Putin fully informed on COVID-19 situation in Russia, Kremlin says.
9. Interfax: Pandemic to cost Russia 9% of GDP in 2020-2021 – Siluanov.
10. TASS: Pandemic shows political freedoms alone cannot save people, Medvedev says – tass.com/politics/1215889
11. TASS: Economic recovery expected in Russia in 2H 2021, says ministry.
12. Moscow Times: Russia’s Economic Recovery Cooled Before Second Wave Struck. The impact is forecast to be weaker than the spring outbreak, but authorities have less options to support the economy this time.
13. Meduza: Yesterday’s gone. ‘Meduza’ correspondent Andrey Pertsev reviews Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu’s new book.
14. NYU Jordan Center: Nika Dzeban, Noviye Cheremushki: A History Forgotten.
15. Moscow Times: Film About Gorbachev and Reagan in Pre-Production. From the team that made “The Death of Stalin”
16. Interfax: IMEMO, Interfax launch new online analytical project Russia and the World: A Professional Conversation.
17. Valdai Discussion Club: Timofei Bordchev, The Dangers of Total Opportunism. In practice, any discussion of international governance is always a discussion of how to make workable “political changes” within the existing international order, to prevent a revolutionary trajectory from emerging. The crisis in international politics – the main reason the issue has been placed on the agenda – is the result of a redistribution of power – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-dangers-of-total-opportunism/
18. South China Morning Post (Hong Kong): Beijing gives cautious welcome to Vladimir Putin’s hint over Russia-China military alliance – scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3107027/beijing-gives-cautious-welcome-vladimir-putins-hint-over
19. Reuters: Renewed fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh threatens U.S.-backed truce.
20. TASS: Karabakh settlement should not transform into platform for Russian-US rivalry – Kremlin.
21. Eurasianet: Michael Kofman, Armenia’s military position in Nagorno-Karabakh grows precarious. The war is not over, but it is clear that Armenia has no way to reverse Azerbaijan’s gains.
22. Responsible Statecraft: Ted Galen Carpenter, Is NATO ally Turkey forcing a dangerous US-Russia confrontation? – responsiblestatecraft.org/2020/10/23/is-nato-ally-turkey-forcing-a-dangerous-us-russia-confrontation/
23. The National Interest: Robert Rabil, Chaos in the Caucasus: Why a New Regional War Would Be Catastrophic. Israel could have a role in reducing tension in the Caucasus and should seek a resolution or a plausible armistice agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
24. rt.com: Ultimatum day in Belarus: Tikhanovskaya announces strike after Lukashenko refuses to resign, Minsk denies work has stopped – rt.com/russia/504565-tikhanovskaya-strike-lukashenko-ultimatum/
25. Intellinews: Ben Aris, Tikhanovskaya’s People’s Ultimatum deadline expires, general strike due to start. Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya set a deadline of October 25 for Lukashenko to leave office or face a general strike that will bring the country to its knees. Lukashenko has not quit.
26. Indian Punchline: M.K. Bhadrakumar, The endgame in Belarus is in view.
27. AP: Ukraine’s local elections test leader and his young party.
28. Carnegie Moscow Center: Temur Umarov, Who’s In Charge Following Revolution in Kyrgyzstan? Sadyr Japarov’s meteoric rise was fueled by a fortunate combination of two political assets: popular radical rhetoric, and connections with influential people. But it’s unlikely they can both be juggled for long. One of them will have to be sacrificed.
29. The Unz Review: Israel Shamir, America Repeats Russian Follies. (excerpt) – unz.com/ishamir/america-repeats-russian-follies/
30. Russian International Affairs Council: Igor Ivanov, Choice without a Choice. (Re US election) – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/choice-without-a-choice/
31. rt.com: Putin says American presence in Afghanistan is beneficial to Moscow’s interests, rubbishes claims of ‘Russian bounties to Taliban’ – rt.com/russia/504535-putin-taliban-bounties-afghanistan/
32. Sputnik: Putin Says Information Received From US Repeatedly Helped Russia Prevent Terror Acts.
33. rt.com: Putin says Hunter Biden ‘made very good money’ in Ukraine, but Moscow isn’t aware of ‘anything criminal’ in his dealings with Kiev.
34. Strategic Culture Foundation editorial: How Russophobia Wrought Death of the United States – strategic-culture.org/news/2020/10/23/how-russophobia-wrought-death-of-the-united-states/
35. The Bell: What will a Joe Biden victory mean for Russia? – thebell.io/en/biden-and-russia/
36. RFE/RL: Russia Relations Unlikely To Improve, Regardless Of U.S. Election Outcome.
37. The National Interest: Mark Episkopos, Joe Biden Keeps the Fictions About Trump and Russia Alive. In the final debate, Joe Biden ensured that mudslinging and innuendo about Donald Trump substituted for a discussion of what America’s actual national interests are towards Russia.
38. Wall Street Journal: Holman Jenkins, The U.S. Has an ‘Intelligence’ Problem. America’s retired spies want to be in charge of picking our presidents.

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