RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2022-#36 :: Wednesday, 16 February 2022

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2021-#36 :: Wednesday, 16 February 2022
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1. Intellinews: Ben Aris, Ukraine invasion day – not. Tensions have eased in the last 24 hours as Russia pulls some of its troops on Ukraine’s border out, but a law passed by the Duma to recognise the breakaway republics in Donbas shifts the game. If the Minsk II accords can be pushed through then that could end both the crisis and the fighting. – intellinews.com/moscow-blog-ukraine-invasion-day-not-235200/?source=blogs
2. The Nation: Andrew J. Bacevich, Is the Confrontation Over Ukraine Joe Biden’s “Wag the Dog” Moment? The people now gunning for a showdown with Putin were gunning for a showdown with Saddam Hussein two decades ago—with the same promises of a happy outcome. – thenation.com/article/world/ukraine-biden-putin-exceptionalism/
3. Moscow Times: ‘Words Good, Acts Even Better’: World Reacts to Russia’s De-Escalation Signals.
4. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Russia has borne Western sanctions before. Is this time different? The West has promised harsh sanctions against Russia should it invade Ukraine. But Russians have borne sanctions since 2014, and seem ready, mentally and economically, to do so again.
5. Interfax: Siluanov: Possible sanctions against Russia could lead to volatility, it’s unpleasant, but not fatal – interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/73886/
6. Washington Post: Katrina vanden Heuvel, A path out of the Ukraine crisis
7. https://gilbertdoctorow.com: Gilbert Doctorow, Meet the new Proactive Russia: The Kremlin Moves on to Plan B. – gilbertdoctorow.com/2022/02/16/meet-the-new-proactive-russia-the-kremlin-moves-on-to-plan-b/
8. Counterpunch: Patrick Cockburn, So Far, Putin is the Biggest Winner in the Ukraine Conflict – counterpunch.org/2022/02/15/so-far-putin-is-the-biggest-winner-in-the-ukraine-conflict/
9. rt.com: Tarik Cyril Amar, Nothing to see here, just Western journalists doing PR for Neo-Nazis. Lazy reporting or an eagerness to sell one side of the story has put the far-right front and center. – rt.com/russia/549475-ukrainian-neo-nazis-raise/
10. Moscow Times: ‘We Are One People. Why Would We Fight Our Brothers?’ Russians React to Ukraine War Threat.
11. TASS: Vedomosti: No recognition of Donbass republics for the time being.
12. Awful Avalanche: Russian Parliamentarians Debate DPR/LPR Status – Part I – awfulavalanche.wordpress.com/2022/02/16/russian-parliamentarians-debate-dpr-lpr-status-part-i/
13. Valdai Discussion Club: Andrey Sushentsov. Leadership and Strategic Thinking in the Long-Term Peace Era. The choice is not between good and bad, but between different versions of bad. There are fewer and fewer people in Europe who understand this, which is why Europe finds itself on the margins of the current discussions going on between Russia and the United States on the issue of European security. – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/leadership-and-strategic-thinking-in-the-long-term/
14. akarlin.substack.com: Anatoly Karlin, Regathering of the Russian Lands. The Empire, Long Divided, Must Unite. – akarlin.substack.com/p/regathering-of-the-russian-lands?r=lca
15. paulcraigroberts.org: Paul Craig Roberts, So Biden, Sullivan, Stoltenberg, UK PM & defense officials, presstitutes, where is the “Russian Invasion”? – paulcraigroberts.org/2022/02/15/so-biden-sullivan-stoltenberg-uk-pm-defense-officials-presstitutes-where-is-the-russian-invasion/
16. Washington Post: David Ignatius, Putin as chess master: Strong opening but weak endgame in Ukraine.
17. TASS: Kommersant: Russia had to flex its military muscle to convince West of its serious intentions.
18. New York Times: Is Ukraine Cooling? Three explanations for the latest news.