RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2021-#122 :: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2021-#122 :: Wednesday, 16 June 2021
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1. rt.com: Fyodor Lukyanov, The Biden-Putin summit is a chance to strike a blow for peace & stability – if Washington can leave domestic politics at the door – rt.com/russia/526622-biden-putin-summit-peace-stability/
2. Valdai Discussion Club: Dmitry Suslov, Fragile Stabilisation of Confrontation. Prospects for relations between Russia and the United States after the summit in Geneva – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/fragile-stabilisation-of-confrontation/
3. Wall Street Journal: Biden, Putin Meet for Tense Talks in Geneva. With relations at a post-Cold War low, few breakthroughs are expected but both sides hope to build a base for further discussions.
4. Washington Post: Amid internal disputes over Russia policy, Biden has chosen a mix of confrontation and cooperation.
5. Responsible Statecraft: Andrey Baklitskiy and Sahil Shah, How Biden and Putin can work together to limit nuclear arms. The American and Russian presidents can use this week’s summit to start a new era of strategic dialogue.
6. The National Interest: Dimitri Alexander Simes, Biden-Putin Summit: The View from Moscow. The Biden administration’s pledge to promote liberal democracy and human rights abroad could spark a new crisis between the two countries.
7. Levada.ru: Two-thirds of Russians view US as ‘most unfriendly’ country – poll.
8. The New Republic: Michael Kimmage and Matthew Rojansky, Make Vladimir Putin Boring Again/Biden’s upcoming meeting with the Russian president is the perfect opportunity to shrink Russia’s outsize significance in American politics.
9. The National Interest: Ted Galen Carpenter, A Pointless U.S.-Russia Summit? If Biden truly wants to salvage the summit and produce worthwhile results, a totally different approach is essential.
10. Financial Times: Andrew Weiss, Biden’s summit with Putin offers a chance to reaffirm US resolve. The Russian leader is skilled at making life miserable for the west at little cost to his autocracy.
11. The National Interest: Lillian Posner, A Play-By-Play of the Russian Diplomat Expulsion. Washington and Moscow are trapped in a bizarre cycle of attempting to reconcile incompatible world views while simultaneously gutting their diplomatic arsenals.
12. New York Times: Elena Chernenko, Sorry, Biden. Putin Honestly Could Not Care Less.
13. Politico: Nahal Toosi, Biden fears what ‘best friends’ Xi and Putin could do together. As President Joe Biden meets Russian leader Vladimir Putin, he and his aides are paying close attention to the Moscow-Beijing dynamic.
14. TASS: Russian lawmakers criminalize setting up work of undesirable NGOs – tass.com/politics/1303247
15. Financial Times: Navalny jailing exposes failure of elected opposition parties to challenge Putin. Tensions between party leaders and members intensify as parliamentary elections loom.
16. rt.com: Moscow releases 2020 mortality stats: Excess death figures show Russia suffered more from Covid-19 than comparable Western nations – rt.com/russia/526631-mortality-stats-covis-2020/
17. tldrussia.substack.com: Sam Greene, Who do you trust? Why Russia’s flagging Covid vaccine program isn’t Putin’s fault – tldrussia.substack.com/p/who-do-you-trust
18. New York Times: Stephen Wertheim, Sorry, Liberals. But You Really Shouldn’t Love NATO.
19. taibbi.substack.com: Matt Taibbi, Has the Media’s Russiagate Reckoning Finally Begun? Review of “Spooked,” by Barry Meier, the devastating new book about Fusion-GPS, the Steele Dossier, and the private spying business – taibbi.substack.com/p/has-the-medias-russiagate-reckoning-9be?
20. taibbi.substack.com: Matt Taibbi, Interview with Barry Meier, author of “Spooked”. The longtime New York Times reporter asks of his colleagues, “When will we learn?” – taibbi.substack.com/p/interview-with-barry-meier-author
21. Washington Post: Michael O’Hanlon, Ukraine wants to join NATO. Letting it in would just provoke Russia. Admitting a former part of the U.S.S.R. is a bridge too far — and it would weaken the alliance.
22. Asia Times: Gregory Clark, Biden-Putin meet hangs on Minsk Agreement. 2015 pact aimed to end Ukraine fighting with Kiev’s acceptance of local government for pro-Russia areas.
23. The American Conservative: Douglas Macgregor, The Biden Administration Is Struggling To Navigate Russia-Ukraine Relations. Tension between the neighboring countries challenges past and present American foreign policy.
24. Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft: Anatol Lieven, Ending the Threat of War in Ukraine: A Negotiated Solution to the Donbas Conflict and the Crimean Dispute. (excerpt)
25. gilbertdoctorow.com: Gilbert Doctorow, Travel Notes: Russia, June 2021.
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