RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2022-#12 :: Sunday, 16 January 2022

To inquire about a subscription to the full Johnson’s Russia List e-mail newsletter, e-mail David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net

Support the JRL: russialist.org/funding.php
Donate Online: click here for direct link at GWU

[check back for updates, including more links; some links also posted to facebook and twitter]

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2021-#12 :: Sunday, 16 January 2022
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.
JRL Home: russialist.org – JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi
Support for JRL is provided in part by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York to the George Washington University and by voluntary contributions from readers.

1. Kremlin.ru: Vladimir Putin had a working meeting with CEO of JSC United Chemical Company Uralchem Dmitry Mazepin – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67582
2. rt.com: Kremlin tells CNN about possibility of weapons deployment to Ukraine. Moscow considers talks with the US and NATO “unsuccessful,” but there is no talk of military action, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said – rt.com/russia/546200-moscow-deploy-weapons-ukraine-guarantee/
3. rt.com: Mikhail Khodarenok, Is Russia really preparing an offensive against Ukraine? The West shouldn’t be concerned about Russia launching military exercises near its own border. Here’s why. – rt.com/op-ed/546082-russian-military-exercise-ukrainian-border/
4. The National Interest: David Pyne, Biden’s Opportunity for Peace in Eurasia. While these comprehensive peace agreements with Russia and China would not be without challenges, they would provide an unprecedented opportunity for Biden to secure his presidential legacy as a transformational peace president while also serving to safeguard vital U.S. national security interests.
5. The National Interest: Mark Episkopos, Is War Inevitable if Talks With Russia Fail? Russia and the West have emerged from three rounds of unprecedented security talks, but officials on both sides say little progress was made.
6. Antiwar.com: Brian Clark, The U.S. Needs To Compromise Over Ukraine – original.antiwar.com/Brian_Clark/2022/01/14/the-us-needs-to-compromise-over-ukraine/
7. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Andrey Baklitskiy, Putin’s demand for security guarantees: Not new and not to be taken literally, but not to be ignored.
8. Intellinews: Ben Aris, Cuban missile crisis II. The week-long round of talks on Russia’s demands to cap Nato’s eastern expansion came to naught, so the Kremlin has turned up the temperature and suggested it will put missiles on Cuba. – intellinews.com/moscow-blog-cuban-missile-crisis-ii-231835/?source=blogs
9. Meduza: Completely different approaches. Political scientist Igor Zevelev breaks down Russia’s security talks with the U.S. and NATO.
10. RFE/RL: As Moscow Menaces And Washington Warns, Glimpses Of A Way Forward. Perhaps.
11. rt.com: Tarik Cyril Amar, Russia is right: The West promised not to enlarge NATO & these promises were broken. The events of three decades ago are haunting the politics of the present. – rt.com/russia/546074-russia-nato-relations-lie/
12. gilbertdoctorow.com: Gilbert Doctorow, Common sense and self-preservation go mainstream in Washington, D.C.: capitulation to Russian demands becomes discussable. – gilbertdoctorow.com/2022/01/16/common-sense-and-self-preservation-go-mainstream-in-washington-d-c-capitulation-to-russian-demands-becomes-discussable/
13. strategic-culture.org: Finian Cunningham, If Austria and Switzerland Are Exempt From NATO Then Why Not Ukraine? Moscow insists that its demand for halting NATO expansionism is inviolable. Washington insists on rejecting that. The gap in diplomacy is becoming a dangerous abyss. – strategic-culture.org/news/2022/01/15/if-austria-and-switzerland-are-exempt-from-nato-then-why-not-ukraine/
14. New York Times: Russia Issues Subtle Threats More Far-Reaching Than a Ukraine Invasion. If the West fails to meet its security demands, Moscow could take measures like placing nuclear missiles close to the U.S. coastline, Russian officials have hinted.
15. Antiwar.com: The CIA Has Been Training Ukrainian Paramilitaries to ‘Kill Russians’. Yahoo News reported that the training program started in 2015. – news.antiwar.com/2022/01/14/the-cia-has-been-training-ukrainian-paramilitaries-to-kill-russians/
16. Russian & Eurasian Politics: Gordon Hahn, Black-Brown Monday in Kiev? – gordonhahn.com/2022/01/15/black-brown-monday-in-kiev/
17. RFE/RL: Language Law For National Print Media Comes Into Force In Ukraine.
18. lossi36.com: Kyiv’s Leverage Dwindles as the Crimean Water Crisis Comes to an End – lossi36.com/2021/09/27/kyivs-leverage-dwindles-as-the-crimean-water-crisis-comes-to-an-end/
19. Serbian Knight: European Requiem for the Russian Opposition – thesaker.is/european-requiem-for-the-russian-opposition/
20. Indian Punchline: M.K. Bhadrakumar, CSTO’s mission accomplished in Kazakhstan – indianpunchline.com/cstos-mission-accomplished-in-kazakhstan/
21. Postsocialism: Jeremy Morris, The Russia Pundit Problem – postsocialism.org/2022/01/10/the-russia-pundit-problem/
22. Wall Street JournaL: Kathryn Stoner, The Putin Puzzle: Why Ukraine? Why Now? Even dictators have domestic political considerations, and Putin has a long history of using an aggressive foreign policy to bolster his standing in Russia.
23. The Mail on Sunday (UK): Who do you think you are kidding Mr Putin? Ukraine’s ‘Dad’s Army’ train with fake wooden guns while Russia’s 100,000-strong force masses on the border.
24. The Observer (UK): Luke Harding, ‘We’ll fight to the end.’ Ukraine defiant in face of Vladimir Putin’s phoney war. Kyiv’s middle-class professionals ready to take up arms again.
25. Daily Beast: David Rothkopf, An Aging Vladimir Putin Hopes War Can Make a Sagging Empire Rise Again. He may have thought the Biden administration would be weak or disinclined to play a leadership role. That has already proven to be a serious miscalculation.