RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2018-101 :: Tuesday, 5 June 2018

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2018-#101 :: Tuesday, 5 June 2018
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1. Wall Street Journal: Walter Russell Mead, Putin’s Success Masks Russian Weakness. Things are breaking his way. But if China is a tiger, Russia is a pussycat on stilts.
2. The Calvert Journal: Moscow is getting a makeover, and the rest of Russia is next.
3. www.rt.com: Top quotes from Putin’s Austrian interview – so tense he had to resort to German to make his point.
4. Meduza: ‘If you don’t like my answers, then don’t ask the questions’ Here’s what Vladimir Putin told the Austrian media in his latest big ole interview.
5. www.rt.com: Russia doesn’t seek to divide EU, our biggest trade partner – Putin to Austrian TV.
6. TASS: Putin reiterates his stance on Russia’s alleged involvement in US elections.
7. www.rt.com: Putin proposes special status for Donbass republics within Ukraine.
8. Kremlin.ru: Interview with Austrian ORF television channel.
9. TASS: Over 1 mln questions submitted for Putin’s Q&A session.
10. Intellinews.com: Kremlin attempts to uproot corruption, clear the field for a spending leap.
11. Paul Goble: Three Prospective Reforms Likely to Hurt Putin with His Political Base in the Population.
12. Vedomosti: Russian pundits discuss risks of nepotism in state power.
13. TASS: Economic Development Ministry expects average oil price in 2018 to be $65-70 per barrel.
14. Financial Times: Russian oil industry proves its resilience. Producers shrug off sanctions and benefit from surge in crude price and weaker rouble.
15. TASS: Izvestia: Foreign investors return to Russian market.
16. Bloomberg: Russia Has a New Richest Person. (Vladimir Lisin)
17. Interfax: All RAS institutes to be subordinated to Science Ministry – Golikova.
18. Meduza: A Russian Senate commission has recommended a whole series of government responses to ‘Western meddling’
19. Russia Beyond: Gun culture in Russia: How does it compare to the U.S.?
20. AP: Putin’s World Cup a prestige boost for sanctions-hit host.
21. TASS: Kremlin aide highlights cooperation with China as Russia’s foreign policy priority.
22. The National Interest: Nicholas Myers, Germany and Russia Are Getting Closer-Here’s Why. The dry spell of Russia’s diplomacy in Europe that set in after the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in 2014 also appears to be the opening of a new chapter.
23. The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah): Ambassador Huntsman may face the biggest test since the Cold War: Rebuild Russian relations with fewer resources at a time when he needs more of them.
24. Intellinews.com: Ben Aris, Putin signs off on a toothless anti-US counter-sanctions law.
25. Reuters: U.S. Pushes NATO to Ready More Forces to Deter Russian Threat.
26. Washington Post editorial: Apple stands up to the thought police. Tim Cook supports a messaging app targeted by Russia’s authoritarian government.
27. Off-Guardian: George Elias, Why the Evidence Mueller Has for the Indicting 13 Russian Nationals is Fraudulent. [off-guardian.org/2018/06/05/why-the-evidence-mueller-has-for-the-indicting-13-russian-nationals-is-fraudulent/]
28. The Blog Mire: Rob Slane, Joining Some Dots on the Skripal Case: Part 1 – An Official Story That Doesn’t Hold Water. [Text with links: theblogmire.com/joining-some-dots-on-the-skripal-case-part-1-an-official-story-that-doesnt-hold-water/]
29. The Blog Mire: Rob Slane, Joining Some Dots on the Skripal Case: Part 2 – Four “Invisible” Clues. [Text with links: theblogmire.com/joining-some-dots-on-the-skripal-case-part-2-four-invisible-clues/]
30. The Blog Mire: Rob Slane, Joining Some Dots on the Skripal Case: Part 3 – The Agitated Mr Skripal. [Text with links: theblogmire.com/joining-some-dots-on-the-skripal-case-part-3-the-agitated-mr-skripal/]