RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2018-37 :: Wednesday, 28 February 2018

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2018-#37
Wednesday, 28 February 2018
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1. TASS: Media: Vital social issues expected to dominate Putin’s State of Nation Address.
2. Moscow Times: What to Expect From Putin’s Federal Assembly Address. The speech will hint at Putin’s political program for his fourth term in office.
3. Bear Market Brief: Putin’s Federal Assembly address: a preview.
5. www.rt.com: Presidential candidates wrangle over military issues, NATO threat in televised debates.
6. TASS: Four hundred polling stations overseas set up for Russians to vote in upcoming election.
7. www.rt.com: Your guide to the 2018 Russian presidential election candidates: 1. Pavel Grudinin (Communist Party).
8. Bear Market Brief: Name in the News: Anton Vaino. (Putin’s chief of staff)
9. www.politico.eu: Oksana Antonenko, Putin’s worst enemy: Putin. He’ll win reelection. But that’s when the real political battle begins.
10. Paul Goble: Russia Lacks Basic Preconditions for Democracy, Inozemtsev Says.
11. Bloomberg: Tight-Fisted Putin Has Russia Out of Sync With Brazil Rating.
12. Valdai Discussion Club: Yaroslav Lissovolik, RUSSIA’S ECONOMIC MODERNIZATION: A LONG-TERM PERSPECTIVE.
13. Financial Times: Russia’s economy: challenges facing Vladimir Putin. With presidential elections looming, the FT examines the data behind calls for reform. [Text with charts https://www.ft.com/content/3aac3faa-1bb6-11e8-aaca-4574d7dabfb6]
14. Intellinews.com: Christopher Skakhovsky, COMMENT: Russia should follow the Saudi lead.
15. Interfax: January data a ‘pleasant surprise’, Russian seasonally adjusted GDP up 0.6% – VEB.
16. Sputnik: US Firms Operating in Russia Plan to Expand Businesses – US Ambassador.
17. Intellinews.com: Filip Brokes, Russia’s May decrees pushed the poorest regions into debt.
18. Moscow Times: Nabi Abdullaev, The Kremlin’s Reshuffles and Arrests Alone Won’t Clean Up Dagestan . Moscow isn’t likely to replace Dagestan’s clannish government with an improved law enforcement and judiciary.
19. www.rt.com: Russian lawmaker promises to prepare anti-harassment bill.
20. www.opendemoceracy.net: Christopher Moldes, The struggle for new blood and the future of Russia’s Left. A new candidate is helping to reinvigorate Russia’s left-wing politics ahead of the presidential election, but what space will there be for voices and movements from below? (excerpt)
21. Russian Faith: Moscow Is Building Grand Churches at a Furious Rate.
22. Russian International Affairs Council: Literature, Science and Global Russians. Interview with Olga Breininger.
23. TASS: IOC reinstates Russian Olympic Committee’s membership.
24. www.rt.com: Russia ‘threatens our ability to dominate’ – US general to Congress.
25. www.rt.com: Assad, Kim & chemical weapons: NYT ties in all the ‘villains’ in story on leaked UN report.
26. The Unz Review: Anatoly Karlin, Hajnal Russophilia. [Text with chart and links http://www.unz.com/akarlin/hajnal-russophilia/]
27. The Unz Review: Mike Whitney, Putin: The Man Who Stopped Washington’s Regime Change Rampage.
28. Rethinking Russia: Archil Sikharulidze, Empathy Lessons: Why Donald Trump’s Presidency is Good for U.S.-Russia Relations.
29. Russia Reviewed: Review: The Hawks of Peace. Notes of the Russian Ambassador by Dmitry Rogozin.
30. Kyiv Post: Kateryna Smagliy, Goodbye to the Kremlin Institute (excerpt) (re Kennan Institute) [Full text https://www.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/op-ed/kateryna-smagliy-bidding-goodbye-kremlin-institute-formerly-known-kennan-institute.html]
31. Russiafeed.com: Matfey Shaheen, Ukraine passes Donbass ‘reintegration’ law, effectively terminating Minsk peace accord. With the best chance for peace effectively torn asunder, Kiev’s action heralds dark days ahead. [Text with links http://russiafeed.com/and-so-it-begins-donbass-reintegration-law-heralds-dark-days-ahead/]
32. Reuters: Ukraine president says expects delivery of U.S. weapons in weeks.
33. The National Interest: Amb. Kurt Volker: How to Achieve Peace in Ukraine. Ambassador Volker spoke on Monday at the Center for the National Interest about defusing the Ukraine crisis.
34. POMARS Eurasia: Serghei Golunov, External Interference Narratives in Russian and U.S. Politics: Conspiracy Theorizing Meets Whataboutism (excerpt)
35. TASS: ‘Anyone could have created NotPetya malware’ – Russian minister.
36. The Hill: Anders Aslund, Russia is going rogue; the US must contain it.
37. The Hill: Jonathan Turley, There is still no evidence tying Trump to Russian conspiracy.
38. Truthdig.com: Eleanor Goldfield, From Russia, With Absurdity. (excerpt) [Full text https://www.truthdig.com/articles/from-russia-with-absurdity/]
39. AP: Top Intel Official: US Must Do More to Stop Russian Meddling.
40. Politico.com: John Carlin, Russia Is a Rogue State. Time to Say So. The Kremlin’s online activities go far beyond election meddling. The U.S. needs to fight back.
41. Moon of Alabama: State Department Troll Farm Receives Huge Cash Infusion. [Text with links http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/02/state-department-troll-farm-receives-huge-cash-infusion.html#more]
42. Wall Street Journal editorial: Democrats and the Dossier. The House asks Obama officials what they knew and when.