RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#163 :: Tuesday, 8 October 2019

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#163 :: Tuesday, 8 October 2019
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.
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1. Russia Beyond: Why do Russians suffer from an early midlife crisis? – rbth.com/lifestyle/331098-opinion-why-do-russians-suffer-from-midlife-crisis
2. Valdai Discussion Club: Yaroslav Lissovolik, Russia’s ‘Big Push’ Paradigm – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/russia-s-big-push-paradigm/
3. Wall Street Journal: Jon Huntsman, America Needs Dialogue With Moscow. Sanctions have their place, but some of them are undermining trust without serving their purpose.
4. www.rt.com: Our knee-jerk Russia sanctions hurt our interests, time to get smarter, former US envoy to Moscow says – – rt.com/news/470424-russian-sanctions-us-ambassador/
5. Interfax: Russia-U.S. relations far cry from Trump’s ‘getting along with Russia’ – Peskov.
6. Voice of America: Putin’s 67th Birthday: You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello.
7. Paul Goble: Putin Regime Will Continue Largely Unchanged Long After He Leaves the Scene, Russian Experts Say.
8. Meduza: The Kremlin has reportedly met in private and determined how it screwed up Moscow’s September elections.
9. Interfax: Federation Council commission to contact Investigative Committee on subject of potential foreign meddling in last election campaign.
10. TASS: Moscow police to sue Navalny, his allies for nearly $300,000 over rallies.
11. TASS: PM Medvedev to hold meeting on measures to accelerate economic growth.
12. Asia Times: Melting Russia in zero-cost climate-change pledge. With global warming risks becoming apparent for Russia, Moscow sets staggeringly unambitious target for 2015 Paris Agreement.
13. New York Times: Oligarchs, as U.S. Arts Patrons, Present a Softer Image of Russia. Museums, the performing arts and historical sites like Fort Ross in California, where an old Russian company flag flies, have been the beneficiaries of their gifts.
14. The Barents Observer: Putin wants new connection between Arctic coast and Indian Ocean.
15. Foreign Policy: The Rise and Fall of a Russian Mercenary Army. After a deadly debacle in Syria, Vladimir Putin has put the Wagner Group in its place-but plenty of other private security firms remain, and they could pose a threat to security in Russia and beyond.
16. Vesti.ru: Russian Pundits: USSA Heading Same Way as USSR, Collapse Seems Inevitable at This Point! – vesti.ru/doc.html?id=3196918&cid=4441
17. www.rt.com: ‘Gift to Putin!’ Meltdown as House Democrat claims Trump plans to ditch Open Skies treaty – rt.com/usa/470407-open-skies-engel-letter/
18. Bloomberg: Leonid Bershidsky, Putin’s Russia Is a Middle Eastern Country. After centuries as the dividing line between Europe and Asia, Russia has found its natural place among the oil dictatorships.
19. Russian International Affairs Council: Can Russia Help China Counter Missile Threats? RIAC expert Dmitry Stefanovich comments on President Vladimir Putin’s statement on Russia helping China develop its missile early warning system. D. Stefanovich expresses his views of the nature of possible cooperation, the objectives of creating such a system and its impact on the regional and global systems of international security – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/interview/can-russia-help-china-counter-missile-threats/
20. Foreign Policy: Melinda Liu, Xi Jinping Has Embraced Vladimir Putin – for Now. But the Russia-China flirtation may not last forever. As in the classic novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” the Chinese can be calculating about alliances.
21. Eurasianet.org: In Armenia, Eurasian Union meets Velvet Revolution. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan managed a delicate balancing act while hosting his authoritarian allies in Yerevan.
22. TASS: Nezavisimaya Gazeta: US seeks to control transit of Russian gas to Europe.
23. Interfax: Russian-language schools’ switch to Ukrainian from 2020 is discrimination – Russian Foreign Ministry.
24. RFE/RL: Kremlin Sees Role For U.S. In Helping Resolve Conflict With Ukraine.
25. Reuters: Kremlin Rejects Idea of U.S. Role in Ukraine Conflict Talks.
26. Bloomberg: Leonid Bershidsky, U.S. Meddling in Ukraine Is a Disaster. U.S. diplomats will suffer for pursuing a silly and futile goal – bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-10-04/u-s-meddling-in-ukraine-is-a-disaster
27. TASS: Kiev’s top diplomat sees three scenarios for East Ukraine.
28. Vesti.ru: Odds of Peace Are Slim Despite Progress at Minsk! Zelensky Catches Flak at Home For Negotiating! – vesti.ru/doc.html?id=3197040&cid=4441
29. Spectator USA: Michael Tracy, Wait, what aid are we actually sending to Ukraine? ‘Aid’ is a strangely euphemistic term to describe high-powered anti-tank missiles, grenade launchers, and sniper rifles. – spectator.us/aid-sending-ukraine/
30. Kyiv Post: Illia Ponomarenko, Ukraine could have prevailed in Donbas, but now is doomed to unjust peace.
31. Meduza: ‘Stalin is dead. Long live Stalin!’ ‘Meduza’ reviews new documentary film composed entirely of archival footage from Joseph Stalin’s funeral.
32. Russia Beyond: Every Russian show on Netflix right now – rbth.com/lifestyle/331080-russian-tv-show-on-netflix
33. Russia Beyond: 5 new Russian book translations for your autumn reading list – rbth.com/arts/331073-russian-books-translations
34. Kennan Institute: Vladimir Gelman, Why Is Russia So Badly Governed?
35. Facebook: Sean Guillory, Peter Pomerantsev.
36. New York Times: Top Secret Russian Unit Seeks to Destabilize Europe, Security Officials Say. (excerpt)

 

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