RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2021-#249 :: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2021-#249 :: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
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1. Wall Street Journal: U.S. Proposes January Talks With Russia as Putin Blames West for Ukraine Tensions. Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeals to Moscow to de-escalate its military presence near Ukraine’s border.
2. Bloomberg: Russia Welcomes U.S. Readiness to Talk, Seeks Proposals.
3. RFE/RL: What To Watch For When Putin Meets The Press.
4. TASS: Izvestia: Russia views rise in military activities along its borders as serious threat.
5. rt.com: Putin sets out military threats facing Russia – rt.com/russia/543899-putin-outlines-military-threats-facing/
6. Twitter: Michael McFaul, “Ive listened to more Putin speeches than most. Ive been in meetings with him for five years. This speech is something different — Putin’s list of completely fabricated threats here is truly striking… and scary. If he’s trying to scare us by acting crazy, he’s succeeding w/ me.”
7. Kremlin.ru: Expanded Meeting of the Defence Ministry Board – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/67402
8. rt.com: Moscow reveals preparations for possible conflict – rt.com/russia/543969-moscow-prepare-conflict-ukraine/
9. The National Interest: Melinda Haring, Not a Drill: Putin’s Going into Ukraine This Time. Putin smells weakness in Washington, Europe, and Ukraine. There’s never been a better time to reclaim his “historic lands.” Will we let him?
10. Carnegie Moscow Center: Vladimir Frolic, Can Russia and NATO Come to an Agreement? Is there a realistic format for a political undertaking not to expand NATO to Russia’s borders?
11. Slate: Fred Kaplan, No, We Are Not Headed Toward Another Cold War. What everyone is getting wrong about Putin’s security proposal to the U.S. – slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/12/putin-russia-treaty-u-s-ukraine.html
12. Washington Post: Michael McFaul, Putin wants us to negotiate over the heads of our allies. Washington shouldn’t fall for it.
13. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, GORDIAN KNOT CUT WITH YELTSIN, RUBICON CROSSED WITH EUROPE– THE NEW YEAR IS A NEW WORLD. – johnhelmer.net/gordian-knot-cut-with-yeltsin-rubicon-crossed-with-europe-the-new-year-is-a-new-world/print/
14. gilbertdoctorow.com: Gilbert Doctorow, Putin’s “military-technical” measures if negotiations fail. – gilbertdoctorow.com/2021/12/22/putins-military-technical-measures-if-negotiations-fail/
15. Russia Observer: Patrick Armstrong, WE’VE SEEN THE ULTIMATUM, WHAT IS THE “OR ELSE”? – patrickarmstrong.ca/2021/12/21/weve-seen-the-ultimatum-what-is-the-or-else/
16. Russian & Eurasian Politics: Gordon Hahn, Zelenskiy’s Theater of Simulacra – UPDATE.
17. The Irish Times: Gerard Toal, Delusion on all sides has paved way for Russia-Nato standoff. Tragedy of Ukraine crisis is how both sides seemed trapped within self-defeating policies.
18. The Conversation: Jacob Lassin and Emily Channell-Justice, Why Putin has such a hard time accepting Ukrainian sovereignty.
19. rt.com: Moscow may mirror Western restrictions on Russia media – Lavrov – rt.com/russia/543968-lavrov-mirror-restrictions-germany/
20. Indian Punchline: M.K. Bhadrakumar, Nord Stream 2 is a double-edged geopolitical tool.
21. Wall Street Journal: U.S. Sees Russian Gas Pipeline as Leverage in Ukraine Crisis, but Needs German Help. The Biden administration wants assurances that Berlin won’t let Nord Stream 2 start to operate during Moscow’s military pressure campaign.
22. Russian International Affairs Council: Andrei Kortunov, A UK–Russian Conversation on Arms Control, Strategic Stability and Ukraine – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/a-uk-russian-conversation-on-arms-control-strategic-stability-and-ukraine/
23. Valdai Discussion Club: Andrey Sushentsov, Thirty Years of Foreign Policy in the Post-Soviet States: Have they Come of Age? – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/thirty-years-of-post-soviet-states-foreign-policy-/
24. Wall Street Journal: Vladislav M. Zubok, Why Did the “Evil Empire” Collapse? The U.S.S.R. disappeared 30 years ago, not because of Western pressure or economic hardship but because of Mikhail Gorbachev’s fatal vision of reform.
