RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2022-#16 :: Friday, 21 January 2022

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2021-#16 :: Friday, 21 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.
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1. Asia Times: SPENGLER (David P. Goldman), Epidemic of insanity strikes America’s leaders. Biden administration is sleepwalking America into wars it can’t feasibly win against Russia and China.
2. TASS: US to respond in written to Russian security guarantee initiatives next week — Blinken – tass.com/politics/1391595
3. rt.com: US ready to respond to Russia’s NATO proposals – Lavrov. Talks in Geneva saw diplomats discuss Moscow’s demands to limit the expansion of NATO – rt.com/russia/546755-us-respond-nato-proposals/
4. rt.com: US stance on Russia’s NATO demands revealed by Blinken. According to Washington’s top diplomat, there is no room for compromise on Moscow’s key concern – rt.com/russia/546761-us-not-deal-moscow/
5. AP: U.S. and Russia try to lower temperature in Ukraine crisis.
6. TASS: No grounds to take Russia’s actions as forming ‘exclusive sphere of influence’ — MFA – tass.com/politics/1391475
7. Financial Times: Russia wants Nato forces out of ex-Warsaw Pact states, says Lavrov. Moscow clarifies hardline stance to avoid ‘any dual interpretations’ ahead of talks with U.S.
8. Moscow Carnegie Center: Dmitri Trenin, What a Week of Talks Between Russia and the West Revealed. Moscow’s demands of the United States and NATO are in fact the strategic goals of Russian policy in Europe. If Russia cannot achieve them by diplomatic means, it will resort to other methods.
9. Russia Matters: Thomas Graham, Breaking the Impasse Between Russia and the West Over European Security.
10. Responsible Statecraft: Anatol Lieven, How Emmanuel Macron can end the threat of war in Europe. The French president can borrow a phrase from Charles de Gaulle and say ‘non’ to Ukraine joining NATO.
11. Washington Post: Gerard Toal and John O’Loughlin, Ukrainians in our survey weren’t enthusiastic about NATO exercises close to Russia. The Kremlin’s defense strategy depends on keeping a buffer between the Russian heartland and Europe.
12. Antiwar.com: Ray McGovern, Breathe Easier: Blinken, Lavrov Meet Friday – original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2022/01/19/breathe-easier-blinken-lavrov-meet-friday/
13. rt.com: Paul Robinson, Is the plan to bankrupt Russia working? The economic state of play is very different now to even just a few decades ago – rt.com/russia/546669-west-economic-sanctions-backfire/
14. Counterpunch: Lawrence Davidson, Russia Reacts to NATO … and History – counterpunch.org/2022/01/21/russia-reacts-to-natoand-history/
15. Antiwar.com: Jonathan Cook, Why Washington’s Focus on ‘Credibility’ Is a Recipe for War. The world is entering what looks like a new, even more complex cold war, in which any misunderstanding, mishap or false move could rapidly escalate into nuclear confrontation. – original.antiwar.com/cook/2022/01/20/why-washingtons-focus-on-credibility-is-a-recipe-for-war/
16. Russia Observer: Patrick Armstrong, RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 20 JANUARY 2022. – patrickarmstrong.ca/2022/01/20/russian-federation-sitrep-20-january-2022/
17. rt.com: Russia non-energy exports booming, says report. The volume of Russian shipments that aren’t oil, gas and other fuels increased by 36% in 2021, according to the Russian Export Center. – rt.com/russia/546621-non-energy-exports-booming/
18. Reuters: Factbox: Russia’s oil and gas revenue windfall.
19. Moscow Times: Ukraine Standoff Threatens to Derail Russia’s Domestic Battle Against Inflation. Even without invasion, the crisis is accentuating rising price pressures at home.
20. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, SPOOKS, RUSSIA, AND DISINFORMATION – irrussianality.wordpress.com/2022/01/20/spooks-russia-and-disinformation/
21. U.S. Department of State: Report: RT and Sputnik’s Role in Russia’s Disinformation and Propaganda Ecosystem.
22. U.S. Department of State: Fact vs. Fiction: Russian Disinformation on Ukraine.
23. Washington Post: Fareed Zaharia, Putin has carefully calculated the odds. Right now, they’re in his favor.
24. The American Conservative: Dimitri A. Simes, How Russia Went Wrong. The inside story of the Yeltsin years as told by the officials who lived through them.
25. Awful Avalanche: Zelensky Assures Ukrainians: Will Be a Great Year! – awfulavalanche.wordpress.com/2022/01/21/zelensky-assures-ukrainians-will-be-a-great-year/
26. Sidecar (New Left Review): Kolya Karpatsky, Kazakhstan’s Unrest – newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/kazakhstans-unrest

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