RUSSIA & UKRAINE: Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#115 :: Thursday 11 June 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#115
Thursday 11 June 2015
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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RUSSIA

1. Sputnik: Russians Highly Confident in Putin Foreign Policy – Poll.
2. Moscow Times: Putin-Era Prosperity Fades as More Russians Slip Into Poverty.
3. Moscow Times: Russia Day Holiday Important for only 3% of Russians.
4. Reuters: Russia Grows Oil and Gas Reserves Faster Than Rivals.
5. www.rt.com: Yabloko party wants founder Yavlinskiy to run for presidency.
6. Moscow Times: Poll: Russians Dislike West About as Much as Westerners Dislike Russia.
7. New York Times: Carol Giacomo, Jeb Bush’s Learning Curve on Russia.
8. Interfax: Russia urges U.S. not to destroy INF Treaty.
9. Russia Insider: Danielle Ryan, Fear-Mongering in Baltics Does More Harm Than Imagined Russian Threat. Divisions and cracks that already exist within these nations should be fading with time – instead they are being deepened.
10. www.rt.com: US attempt to ‘lecture the Pope’ before Putin meeting a ‘big responsibility’ to take – Kremlin.
11. Carnegie Moscow Center: Paul Stronski, Mr. Putin Meets the Pope.
12. Interfax: West loses tool of pressure on Russia after its withdrawal from G7 – Pushkov.
13. www.rt.com: Thanks to sanctions Russia turned to Asia – Medvedev.
14. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Alisen Alisenov, Can the BRICS form an economic union? The group of emerging nations has the opportunity to form a powerful economic bloc, which with time will grow in stature.
15. TASS: BRICS, SCO look sound alternatives to Russia’s strategic partnership with West – experts.
16. www.rt.com: Pepe Escobar, American dreaming, from G1 to Bilderberg.
17. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Ajay Kamalakaran, Why Russia will not return the Southern Kurils to Japan. Besides emotive issues and natural resources, the Southern Kuril Island chain holds immense strategic value and is one of Russia’s main naval gateways to the Pacific Ocean.
18. Moscow Times: Matthew Bodner, How the Soviet Union Wrecked Russia’s Military-Industrial Complex.
19. http://readrussia.com: Mark Galeotti, Russia is Not a Reading List
20. Transitions Online/Carnegie.ru: Denis Volkov, A Brief History of Anti-Americanism in Modern Russia. Or how contemporary Russians came to see the United States as Enemy No. 1.
21. New York Times: Library of Congress Chief Retires Under Fire. (James Billington)

UKRAINE

22. The Japan Times: Gwynne Dyer, Opposing Russian aggression.
23. TASS: US pushes Kiev to continue conflict in Ukraine – Russian Foreign Ministry.
24. Valdai Discussion Club: Ruslan Pukhov, The Myth of Hybrid War.
25. Moscow Times: Russian Soldier Captured in Ukraine Under Pressure, Offered Asylum.
26. The Vineyard of the Saker: American citizen tortured by Ukrainian government.
27. Interfax: DPR Defense Ministry and JCCC record damage in Krasny Oktyabr after shelling.
28. RFE/RL: Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk Digs In To Complex Decommunization Proces.
29. http://gordonhahn.com: Gordon Hahn, (Not So) Random Questions About Recent Ukraine Developments.
30. TASS: Europe-bound Russian gas transit via Ukraine to end in 2019.
31. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, Now Kiev Threatens Its Western Creditors with Default. Ukrainian finance minister Jaresko threatens a “debt moratorium” but IMF hints it may press ahead with aid to Kiev regardless.
32. Interfax: Economic growth may resume in Ukraine in 2016 if reforms continue – PM Yatsenyuk.
33. Business New Europe: IMF will still lend to Ukraine if private creditors go unpaid.
34. Wall Street Journal: Ukraine Warns Bailout Could Be Derailed. Creditor talks, conflict with separatists endanger $40 billion bailout, leaders say.
35. Bloomberg: Leonid Bershidsky, IMF Offers Ukraine a Poisoned Chalice.
36. AP: Educated Ukrainians Flee East Ukraine for New Lives in Kiev.
37. New York Times: Russian Groups Crowdfund the War in Ukraine.
38. Washington Post: Ukrainian prime minister says Putin wants to control all of his country.
39. Washington Post editorial: The U.S. should send aid to democracy’s front lines in Ukraine.
40. AP: Poll: Americans and Europeans differ on aid to Ukraine.
41. Interfax-Ukraine: Ukrainian Security Service chief invited to speak at U.S. congress – adviser.
42. The New Republic: Jochen Hellbeck, Ukraine Makes Amnesia the Law of the Land. Poroshenko wants his nation to forget its role in Nazi atrocities.
43. Wall Street Journal: Petro Poroshenko: We’re Making Steady Progress in Ukraine, Despite Putin. A crackdown on corruption is boosting investment and growth, even as we contend with Russian aggression.