RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2021-#150 :: Wednesday, 28 July 2021

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2021-#150 :: Wednesday, 28 July 2021
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1. President Joe Biden: “When I was with Mr. Putin, who has a real problem — he is — he’s sitting on top of an economy that has nuclear weapons and oil wells and nothing else. Nothing else. Their economy is — what? — the eighth smallest in the world now — largest in the world? He knows — he knows he’s in real trouble, which makes him even more dangerous, in my view.”
2. RFE/RL: Biden Warns That Cyberattacks Could Lead To ‘A Real Shooting War’
3. TASS: Russian politician slams Biden’s remark on Putin, takes Washington to task on cyber issues – tass.com/politics/1318563
4. The Conversation: Megan Steain and Jamie Triccas, Growing evidence suggests Russia’s Sputnik V COVID vaccine is safe and very effective. But questions about the data remain.
5. Meduza: The ‘undesirable candidate’. Russia’s Communists flirt with real politics again in their fight for Pavel Grudinin.
6. Wall Street Journal: After Navalny, Challenging Russia’s Putin Is Getting Even Harder. Opposition leaders have been detained, media sidelined and legal rights groups forced to disband in run-up to parliamentary elections in September.
7. TASS: Vedomosti: IMF improves Russia’s GDP growth outlook for 2021.
8. rt.com: Russia is world’s 2nd biggest oil producer after US this year – Rosstat – rt.com/business/530435-russia-us-oil-output/
9. rt.com: Dmitry Stefanovich, Blast off! Russia’s missile tests, rocket missions & new stealth fighter launch Moscow’s bid for supremacy in space & in the skies – rt.com/russia/530429-rockets-test-launch-space-supremacy/
10. AP: Talks for new US-Russia arms deal to stir up old bugaboo.
11. Wall Street Journal: U.S., Russian Officials to Hold Talks on Future Arms Control Agenda. Washington wants to address all Russian nuclear weapons; Moscow will focus on U.S. missile defenses at Wednesday meeting.
12. RIA Novosti: Russia warns against high expectations of strategic talks with US.
13. Russia Matters: U.S. and Russian Experts Share Insights on Strategic Stability Ahead of Bilateral Talks
14. TASS: Kommersant: China’s growing nuclear capacity to affect Russia.
15. The National Interest: Angela Stent, Germany Will Lead the EU’s Ostpolitik Even After Merkel. Despite challenges from both France and the EU’s eastern members, Germany will continue to set the tone for the EU’s relationship with Russia.
16. TASS: Nord Stream 2 is 99% complete, Fortuna barge is working at final section — operator – tass.com/economy/1320313
17. Bloomberg editorial: Don’t Celebrate the Nord Stream 2 Deal. Biden’s agreement with Merkel may improve U.S.-German relations, but it won’t achieve much else.
18. Bloomberg: Russia Bolsters Base on Afghan Border Amid ‘Hasty’ U.S. Exit.
19. TASS: Russian defense chief slams ‘failed’ US-NATO Afghan gamble, says situation in dire straits.
20. Interfax: Kremlin fears ‘instability’ after U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.
21. strategic-culture.org: Brian Cloughley, Russia Continues to Be Targeted – strategic-culture.org/news/2021/07/27/russia-continues-to-be-targeted/
22. Politico: Biden wants Putin to behave. So why not go after his money? Kremlin critics say the U.S. president needs to do more than take incremental measures. But insiders warn that aiming for Putin’s pocketbook could be dangerous.
23. Intellinews: Georgia may be most homophobic country in Europe data suggests. Scene from protests that took place in Tbilisi in 2013. Gay rights activists were pursued and beaten after thousands of protesters opposing homosexuality broke through a police cordon.
24. TASS: Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Sanctions fail? Belarusian economy still roaring ahead despite West’s restrictions.
25. AFP: Thousands march in support of Ukraine’s Russia-backed church.

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