RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2017-34 :: Thursday, 16 February 2017

To inquire about a subscription to the full Johnson’s Russia List e-mail newsletter, e-mail David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net

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

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2017-#34
Thursday, 16 February 2017
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 contributionswhinin from readers.
Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php – Donate Online: direct link

1. The Guardian (UK): Mary Dejevsky, Putin needs the US as much as Trump does Russia. Rex Tillerson’s meeting with Sergei Lavrov is an overture in a relationship that is more essential to Moscow than Trump’s critics have recognised.
2. Kremlin.ru: Working meeting with Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin.
3. TASS: Minister says economic activity in Russia starting to recover.
4. TASS: Putin says challenges and threats to global security aggravated in 2016.
5. Twitter: Michael McFaul, I like Putingate.
6. Washington Post editorial: The nation needs answers, not deflections, on Russia and Trump.
7. New York Times editorial: Time for Congress to Investigate Mr. Trump’s Ties to Russia.
8. www.rt.com: Russia boosts US Treasury bill holding after Trump’s election win.
9. Wall Street Journal: Spies Keep Intelligence From Donald Trump on Leak Concerns. Decision to withhold information underscores deep mistrust between intelligence community and president.
10. In Moscow’s Shadows: Mark Galeotti, The NYT story on “Trump associates” and Russian spooks: some questions.
11. The Nation: Stephen Cohen, Kremlin-Baiting President Trump (Without Facts) Must Stop. Bipartisan allegations that Trump is a “puppet” of or “compromised” by the Kremlin have grown into latter-day McCarthyism with grave threats to America and the world.
12. Consortiumnews.com: James Carden, A Dangerous Hysteria on Russia. A grave danger from the U.S.-Russian hostilities bubbling in Official Washington is that both sides have narratives asserting their complete innocence rather than seeing the two sides of the story.
13. Consortiumnews.com: Ray McGovern, German Intel Clears Russia on Interference. Mainstream U.S. media only wants stories of Russian perfidy, so when German intelligence cleared Moscow of suspected subversion of German democracy, the silence was deafening.
14. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, BLACK SEA BUZZ – THE US NAVY WAITS FOUR DAYS, THEN SENDS SOS TO PRESIDENT TRUMP.
15. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russia blames Washington hawks for Gen. Flynn’s resignation. Russian officials believe that far-right hawks in the U.S. establishment seek to fan anti-Russian sentiments in order to undermine Trump’s presidency and create more tension between the countries.
16. The Daily Mail (UK); Stephen Glover, Hang on a minute. Isn’t Trump right? We SHOULD try to be pals with Putin.
17. Bloomberg: Leonid Bershidsky, President Trump’s Boris Yeltsin Moment.
18. Moscow Times: Mikhail Fishman, The Suspense Is Now Over For Russia’s Political Elite: Putin Is Running.
19. TASS: Over 70 mln cyberattacks attempted on Russian information resources in 2016.
20. AP: Russia to punish athletes who don’t return Olympic medals.
21. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Vladimir Mikheev, Munich 2017: Elites gather to find answers for Europe’s future security. The annual Munich Security Conference will be both a stress test for transatlantic unity and a litmus test as to whether the debacle of American exceptionalism and regime change was enough to convince the West to reconsider its failed policies.
22. Russia Direct: Natalia Klimenkp, The shift in US-Germany relations has implications for Russia. After decades, the transatlantic partnership between the U.S. and Germany finally shows signs of weakening. That could open the door for Russia to become an important German partner.
23. Wall Street Journal: Russia, Iran Need Each Other, Despite Disagreements. Trump would be hard-pressed to deliver a deal that could persuade Moscow to upend its deepening ties with Iran.
24. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Why did the Russian deputy prime minister abruptly cancel a visit to Iran? Dmitri Rogozin’s visit to Iran on Feb. 13 was officially canceled due to “technical reasons,” but sources say the breach in secrecy was the real issue, and Moscow plans to slightly adjust bilateral relations with Tehran. The Kremlin now expects something back from Iran for all that Moscow has done, especially protecting that country from America’s wrath.
25. Valdai Discussion Club: Alexei Fenenko, SIX-PARTY CONFERENCE IN MOSCOW ON AFGHANISTAN: WITHOUT US AND NATO?
26. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova, Moscow, February 15, 2017 (excerpts re “fake news about Russia”)
27. TASS: Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita to be tailored to American audience.
28. Mary Kruger: RCAS concert in Washington: “Famous Contemporaries: Glière, Medtner and Rachmaninov”