RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-119 :: Tuesday, 28 June 2016

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#119
Tuesday, 28 June 2016
A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs
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1. Kremlin.ru: United Russia party congress.
2. www.rt.com: ‘Worse than treason’: Putin warns against speculation on nation’s problems ahead of polls.
3. The Kremlin Stooge: Mark Chapman, Putin is Weaponizing Popularity: Newsweek is not Amused.
4. Paul Goble: Lack of Solidarity Among Russian Opposition an Ominous Echo of 1937, Pavlova Says.
5. Russia Direct: Brexit, Putins visit to China, and new anti-terrorism measures in Russia. Russian media roundup: Britain’s decision to exit the EU and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China made headlines in the Russian media last week.
6. Russia Beyond the Headlines: The spying game: The former KGB officers who run Russia today. The Committee for State Security (KGB) was abolished 25 years ago, but its former members still administer Russia. They are deputies, senators and heads of state corporation, whose “Chekist” past has only helped their careers. On the other hand, all of Russia’s security organs are the heirs of the KGB.
7. Intellinews.com: Mark Galeotti, Better repressive laws in Russia than repression?
8. US-Russia Business Council: VEB Pessimistic On Russia’s Economic Recovery.
9. Bloomberg: Russia Takes $6.2 Billion Bite Out of Banks to Soak Up Cash.
10. Wall Street Journal: Russian Oil Boss Looks to Parlay Hedge Into an Empire. Russneft chief’s smart bet helps assemble oil, real estate, music and banking conglomerate. (Mikhail Gutseriev)
11. Sputnik: Oil Prices Rebound After Saudi Arabia Crashed the Market, But Will it Last?
12. Russia Direct: Ivan Tsvetkov, Post-Brexit: What kind of Europe does Russia need? Contrary to the conventional wisdom, Britain’s impending exit from the EU may not have any long-term positive implications for Russia.
13. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, What Does Russian President Putin Say About Brexit?
14. Carnegie Moscow Center: Alexander Baunov, A Multipolar Europe: Why Russia Likes Brexit. The Kremlin is enjoying the discomfort that Brexit is causing to the European Union. But that does not mean that it wants Europe broken up. It just wants a return to old-fashioned bilateral diplomacy.
15. Intellinews.com: Sanctions shield protects Russia from Brexit fallout.
16. Washington Post: Katrina vanden Heuvel, How Brexit could avert a new Cold War.
17. Valdai Discussion Club: NATO DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH FORCES AND FACILITIES FOR A MILITARY CONFRONTATION WITH RUSSIA. (Vladimir Batyuk)
18. Consortiumnews.com: Joe Lauria, Europeans Contest US Anti-Russian Hype.
19. TASS: US destroyer came dangerously close to Russian warship in Mediterranean – defense ministry.
20. Washington Post editorial: The antidote to Brexit: A strong NATO.
21. RFE/RL: U.S. Ambassador To Russia: NATO ‘Most Effective Defensive Alliance’ In History.
22. Interfax: NATO blatantly shifts interaction with Russia into confrontational logic – Russian diplomat.
23. BBC Monitoring: China, Russia military moves reaction to US actions – analyst.
24. Transitions Online: Russia, NATO Tangle Over Montenegro. The smallest Balkan country is finding itself caught between a traditional friend and a new ally.
25. Russia Direct: Nikolay Surkov, Why Assad could remain Syrian president until 2017. Russia will negotiate Syria’s destiny with a new U.S. president rather than with U.S. President Barack Obama.
26. AP: Kremlin Says It Will Take Time to Mend Ties With Turkey.
27. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Why Erdogan apologized to Putin. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has apologized to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the shooting down of a Russian Su-24 bomber in the skies over Syria, the president’s Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said. According to experts, Erdogan took such a step due to the deterioration in relations with the EU over refugees and the economic consequences of the breakdown in relations with Moscow.
28. Russia Insider/RIA Novosti: Dmitry Kosyev, While European Union is Collapsing, Eurasia is Integrating. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization learned the lessons of the EU. It’s neither an alliance nor a union. It is a relationship model that respects diversity.
29. TASS: Diplomat: McFaul’s diplomatic mission in Russia fell through with a crash.
30. Interfax: Karasin, Abashidze meet in Prague to confirm commitment to continue course toward normalization of Russia-Georgia relations – Russian Foreign Ministry.
31. Wall Street Journal: Stephen Sestanovich, Russia and China: Friends Without Benefits?
32. NPR.org: Russia’s Ex-Spy Chief Shares Opinions Of His American Counterparts. (Vyacheslav Trubnikov)
33. Michigan War Studies Review: Walter Moss reviews The Maisky Diaries: Red Ambassador to the Court of St James’s, 1932-1943 by Gabriel Gorodetsky.