RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2020-#228 :: Thursday, 17 December 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#228 :: Thursday, 17 December 2020
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1. TASS: Key points from Vladimir Putin’s annual news conference – tass.com/politics/1236415
2. Moscow Times: Putin Talks Coronavirus, Navalny Poisoning at Annual Marathon Press Conference.
3. TASS: Russia is ‘harmless and squeaky-clean’ compared to the West, Putin says – tass.com/politics/1236499
4. Kremlin.ru: Vladimir Putin’s annual news conference – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/64671
5. rt.com: Putin says Russian voters can shake up parliament & end center-right, communist & nationalist dominance in next year’s vote – rt.com/russia/509956-political-parties-voting-system-changes/
6. TASS: Russia weaning itself off oil and gas dependency, says Putin.
7. Russian International Affairs Council: Andrey Kortunov, Thirteen Points on Joe Biden and Russia – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/thirteen-points-on-joe-biden-and-russia/
8. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Capitalism over culture? Moscow’s artists face eviction amid urban renewal. For culture to thrive in a society, artists need patronage. In Russia, the most viable avenue for that support is the state. Should Moscow be kicking artists out of subsidized studios in favor of urban development?
9. TASS: Izvestia: World Bank’s recommendations run counter to Russian interests, economists say.
10. Paul Goble: Share of World’s People who Speak Russia, Already Declining for a Century, Projected to Fall 50 Percent More by 2050.
11. Pew Research Center: Views of Russia and Putin remain negative across 14 nations.
13. Moon of Alabama: Media Blame Russia For Cyber Intrusions Without Providing Evidence – moonofalabama.org/2020/12/media-blame-russia-for-cyber-intrusions-without-providing-evidence.html#more
14. New York Times: Billions Spent on U.S. Defenses Failed to Detect Giant Russian Hack. The broad Russian espionage attack on the U.S. government and private companies, underway since spring and detected only a few weeks ago, is among the greatest intelligence failures of modern times.
15. Washington Post: The U.S. government spent billions on a system for detecting hacks. The Russians outsmarted it.
16. Russian International Affairs Council: Sergey Rogov and Alexey Gormyko, Reducing the Military Risks in Europe – russiancouncil.ru/papers/8-2a-Russia-NATO-Statement-Final-Draft.pdf
17. Asia Times: P. Nikola Mikovic, Why Russia wants a naval base in Sudan. The facility will bolster Russia’s presence in Africa, making Moscow a serious regional player once again.
18. Orange County Register: Lyle Goldstein, Lessons for the U.S. from the Armenia-Azerbaijan war.
19. Carnegie Moscow Center: Vygaudas Ušackas, Managing Adversity: Russia and the Baltics. The Baltic countries and Russia need to talk to each other. A lack of communication could cause incidents to escalate and lead to a military confrontation. For this reason, dialogue on military risk reduction with Russia and Belarus is crucial.
20. The Unz Review: Carl Boggs, Belarus on the Edge: Biden’s First Move? – unz.com/article/belarus-on-the-edge-bidens-first-move/
21. Intellinews: Ukraine: Zelenskiy is the political disappointment of 2020.
22. Valdai Discussion Club: Anton Bespalov, How the Climate Agenda Will Change Our Lives – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/how-the-climate-agenda-will-change-our-lives/