RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-96 :: Friday, 27 May 2016

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter]

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#96
Friday, 27 May 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
The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University.
JRL homepage: russialist.org – JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi
Support for JRL is provided in part by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York to the George Washington University and by voluntary contributions from readers.
Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php – Donate Online: direct link

RUSSIA

1. TASS: Putin says foreign methods can help popularize national languages abroad.
2. Kremlin.ru: Meeting of the Russian Literature and Language Society.
3. Vedomosti: Aleksey Levinson, Rating and Corruption — For Majority of Russians President is not an Official.
4. www.rt.com: Chief investigator proposes law on Russia’s ‘national idea’
5. The Russian Reader/Vedomosti: Vladimir Gel’man, The Vicious Circle of Bad Governance.
6. Paul Goble: Many Fear Real Elections Will Bring Fascism to Russia But Their Absence Helps It Rise, Piontkovsky Says.
7. US-Russia Business Council: Survey: Competition Falling In Russia’s Economy.
8. Russia Beyond the Headlines: 3 ways out of Russia’s crisis: The plans on Putin’s table. Russian economists have proposed three programs to help the country get out of the crisis. They were presented to President Vladimir Putin at the session of the Economy Council on May 25. RBTH tries to understand the essence of each plan and how such proposals were realized in the past.
8a. Rachel Douglas: Confusion about the Presidential Economic Council and the Stolypin Club.
9. TASS: Official: US recommendations not to buy Russian Eurobonds destroy foundation of US economy.
10. http://theduran.com: Alexander Mercouris, The Strange Story of Russia’s Eurobond or How the West is Forcing Russia to Improve its Financial System. The Western attempt to sabotage Russia’s recent Eurobond issue was not only an entirely predictable failure but it has ended up strengthening Russia’s financial system.
11. Stratfor.com: Negotiating an End to Russia’s Sanctions, Eventually.
12. TASS: Kremlin: G7’s calls on anti-Russia sanctions extension to affect global economy.
13. TASS: Russia, US to create alliance to bring Russian fuel to US market.
14. Christian Science Monitor: Linda Feldman, US-Russian citizens’ diplomacy, with a side of skeet-shooting. At a historic Russian resort, where Leonid Brezhnev once shot a wild boar for Henry Kissinger, Americans and Russians address deepening tensions.
15. Interfax: Russia-U.S. disagreements over INF treaty not resolved so far because Washington unready to accommodate Moscow’s concerns – Ryabkov.
16. www.foreignpolicy.com: Siobhan O’Grady, Surprise! Only 1 Percent of Russians Approve of American Leadership.
17. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, In Abkhazia, proto-states, non-nations gather for their own soccer World Cup. Somaliland? Nagorno-Karabakh? Quebec? They’re all fielding ‘national teams’ to compete in the CONIFA tournament. For host Abkhazia, it’s a rare chance to shine.
18. The Independent (UK): Robert Fisk, The US is dropping calls for Assad to go because the Syrian regime is a better bet than Isis. In Syria and Lebanon there are no plans for a future, but the Syrian army is going to have a role in any New Syria.
19. The National Interest: Nikolay Pakhomov, Russia and Saudi Arabia Are Headed for a Showdown. Moscow and Riyadh have incompatible goals, from energy to extremism.
20. The Guardian (UK): ‘Most Orwellian winner yet’: The Invention of Russia takes Orwell prize. Arkady Ostrovsky’s The Invention of Russia, an account of media manipulation and of language in modern Russia, wins UK’s top award for political writing.

UKRAINE

21. Wall Street Journal: On the Front Lines in Eastern Ukraine, a U.S. Charity Goes to War-With Music.
22. www.opendemocracy.net: Mary Kaldor, Geopolitics versus the political marketplace: the origins of the war in Ukraine. These two books on the war in Ukraine open up fresh questions into how we interpret the causes of conflict. (re Richard Sakwa’s Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands and Andrew Wilson’s Ukraine Crisis: What it means for the West)
23. Facebook: Ivan Katchanovski, Maidan Killings.
24. http://dninews.com: Charges of terrible tortures of “separatists” by SBU confirmed.
25. Sputnik: UN Experts to Resume Ukraine Prisons Inspection After Kiev Grants Access.
26. Newsweek.com: Anna Neistat, NO JUSTICE FOR EASTERN UKRAINE’S VICTIMS OF TORTURE.
27. Interfax: Savchenko ready to become Ukraine’s president if people want it .
28. AP: Savchenko’s Return Heralds New Turmoil in Ukraine.
29. Facebook: Ivan Katchanovski, Political poll.
30. http://dninews.com: Savchenko: We will make Ukraine for Ukrainians.
31. www.rt.com: Ukrainian pilot Savchenko release not part of Minsk accords – Moscow.
32. Carnegie Moscow Center: Tatyana Stanovaya, The Savchenko Swap: Why Did Putin Free Ukraine’s Most Famous Pilot?
33. Russia Insider/TV Tsargard: Cruel Russian Ruse: Savchenko is Returned to Ukraine. Savchenko’s release and return to Kiev is a ticking time-bomb capable of blowing apart all Ukrainian policy.
34. Counterpunch.org: Dmitry Mickiewicz, Barbarous Deforestation in Western Ukraine.
35. Moscow Times: Kremlin Says Russia ‘In Favour’ of Returning Donbass to Ukraine.
36. https://newcoldwar.org: Zakharchenko explains conditions for a future reunification of Donetsk with Ukraine during online discussion with Kherson region residents.
37. Wall Street Journal: Good Morning, Ukraine! Army Radio Seeks Colorful DJ to Mock Russians. Army FM hopes a ‘cooler vibe’ will drown out pro-Russian broadcasts.
38. www.rt.com: ‘Ukrainian witch-hunting site violates intl laws & human rights with tacit support from Kiev’
39. www.rt.com: Gorbachev officially barred from Ukraine over Crimea comments.
40. Rethinking Russia: Vyacheslav Lopatin, How Crimea Turned Russian.