RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-77 :: Friday, 22 April 2016

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#77
Friday, 22 April 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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RUSSIA

1. The Guardian (UK): Owen Hatherley, Soviet squares: how public space is disappearing in post-communist cities. Privatisation is stripping cities in Russia and Eastern Europe of their public assets, leaving a chaotic mix of advertising, dilapidation and new development.
2. www.rt.com: Russian stock market hits all-time high on rising crude, foreign investment.
3. Sputnik: Half of Russians Fear Possible Terrorist Attacks at Home.
4. Vedomosti: Putin’s phone-in prioritizes domestic issues over foreign policy – paper.
5. Russia Direct: Dmitry Polikanov, Why does Russia’s top investigator push for confrontation with the West? The head of Russia’s Investigative Committee has publicly called for a tightening of law and order within Russia and a more vigorous response to the West’s “hybrid war.” But will the Kremlin listen?
6. www.rt.com: State Duma chooses police general as new Russian Human Rights ombudsman.
7. TASS: Russian ex-finance minister: Politics now matters more than good economic plan. (Kudrin)
8. Moscow Times: Former Prime Minister Kasyanov Stifled by Both Kremlin and Allies.
9. www.rt.com: Putin meets United Russia candidates, urges honest competition at primaries.
10. US-Russia Business Council: Ulyukayev Sees Limited Future Growth Without “Pro-Investment” Policies.
11. Valdai Discussion Club: ALEXANDER NOVAK: NEED TO FREEZE OIL PRODUCTION WILL DISAPPEAR IN FEW MONTHS.
12. TASS: Oil price corridor of $40-60/bbl new reality for next 5 years – Russian Economy Ministry.
13. www.rt.com: Russia benefits from crude production freeze talks despite failure to reach deal.
14. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, China Goes After Russian Oil Giant Rosneft, Deals Fly.
15. Sputnik: Russia to Adopt Ecological Security Strategy in 2016.
16. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, Dutch Court Overturns $50 Billion Ruling Against Russia in Yukos Case. Dutch Court rules Hague Tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear Yukos case in significant legal victory for Russia.
17. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Gazeta.ru: NATO revives one of Medvedev’s forgotten ideas. NATO intends to review the Vienna Document of the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE), on which the security system between Russia and Europe has been based since the end of the Cold War. In fact, many of the details that the alliance plans to examine are similar to those proposed as early as 2008 by Dmitry Medvedev, who was then president of Russia.
18. Forbes.com: Doug Bandow, Russia And NATO Meet: Time For Allies To Call Off Mini-Cold War With Moscow.
19. Counterpunch.org: Ulrich Heyden, ‘Putin and Russia are Ideal Scapegoats for Europe’s Rulers’
20. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Samuel Charap and Jeremy Shapiro, US-Russian relations: The middle cannot hold.
21. Reuters: No Chance of NATO Expansion for Years, U.S. Ambassador Says.
22. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Vladimir Mikheyev, Can Russia stomach Ukraine and Georgia becoming NATO ‘associates’? The upcoming NATO summit in Warsaw (8-9 July 2016) will be hallmarked by Ukraine and Georgia’s elevation to a still-elusive status of “associate partners.” While the move could be interpreted as one step closer to full membership, Moscow military experts view it as lip service to keep the two countries, going through a turbulent transitional period, in the Western alliance’s orb
23. The Jerusalem Post: Our friend Putin. Putin seems to have more time for Jews and Israel than any of his predecessors or his neighbors.
24. www.rt.com: Dmitry Babich, Warmongering in Warsaw: EU gives Poland greenlight to ramp up tensions with Russia.
25. Reuters: U.S. Split Deepens Over Putin’s Intentions in Syria Civil War.
26. Izvestia: Daily interviews Russia’s UN envoy about Syria, Islamic State. (Vitaliy Churkin)
27. https://patrickarmstrong.ca: Patrick Armstrong, RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 21 APRIL 2016.
28. Sputnik: Getting to Know You: Finland Pitches in €100,000 for US Study on Putin. (re Brookings)
29. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Fiona Hill, Putin: The one-man show the West doesn’t understand.
30. The Economist: Nationalism in Russia. The in crowd. A fine analysis of what motivates Vladimir Putin’s regime. (re Black Wind, White Snow: The Rise of Russia’s New Nationalism by Charles Clover)
31. Newsweek.com: RUSSIANS GO WILD FOR SONG ABOUT LOVING ‘SOMEONE LIKE PUTIN’

UKRAINE

32. AP: Ukraine Children Eat Food Tainted by Chernobyl.
33. www.rt.com: Gorbachev urges Putin & Obama to meet over Ukraine.
34. Interfax: Russia will watch for “adverse consequences” of Ukraine-EU deal – Kremlin.
35. www.foreignpolicy.com: Josh Cohen, Enough Carrots for Ukraine. Time to Break Out the Sticks. What Kiev needs now is a dose of tough love.
36. Russia Insider/Vzglyad: Vasiliy Stoyakin, Five Recommendations for Ukraine’s New PM From a Patriot. He can take them or leave them, but let’s see if he can come up with anything better.
37. Russia Insider: Ukraine’s Separation from USSR Could Be Declared Unconstitutional by Local Court. If the results of the 1991 Ukrainian referendum on independence are appealed in court, RI’s Alexei Pankin will testify to massive ballot rigging.
38. Reuters: In New Ukraine, Old Clan Ties Propel ‘Boy’ Prime Minister’s Rise.
39. Intellinews.com: Ben Aris, Calls for new Ukraine polls grow as confidence in president collapses.
40. Kyiv Post: New finance minister fails to declare links to offshore firms.
41. Atlantic Council: Sergii Leshchenko, Why I’m Pessimistic about Ukraine’s New Government.
42. Interfax-Ukraine: Polish ‘shock therapy’ architect Leszek Balcerowicz becomes Ukrainian president’s envoy to govt.
43. Reuters: EU Wants Reforms From New Ukraine Government Within 100 Days.
44. Voxukraine.org: Why Ukraine Needs the IMF More Than the IMF Needs Ukraine.
45. Facebook: Ivan Katchanovski, Maidan snipers.
46. Fort Russ: A Total of 397 People Died at the House of Trade Unions. (Odessa)
47. Human Rights in Ukraine: Alarm bells ring as chief Maidan crimes investigator threatened with criminal charges.
48. Ukraine Today (Kyiv): Nearly 10,000 Russian regular forces stationed in Donbas – Stratfor analyst.
49. https://futuristrendcast.wordpress.com: Poroshenko Prepares New War in Donbass? Why US, EU and OSCE are Blind and Deaf?