RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#54 :: Monday, 1 April 2019

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#54 :: Monday, 1 April 2019
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1. TASS: Russian climate gets warmer 2.5 times faster than world average – diplomat.
2. Intellinews.com: Putin’s popularity remains flat at 64% but propensity to protest falls mildly.
3. New York Times: Alexey Kovalev, Russians Always Knew There Was No Collusion. The Kremlin’s allies and its opponents alike have been baffled by America’s Russia obsession. Can we ever look at the U.S. the same way again?
4. Moscow Times: Share of Russians Predicting Better Ties With the West Hits 5-Year High – Poll.
5. TASS: Media: Comedian Vladimir Zelensky wins first round of Ukrainian elections.
6. The Unz Review: Anatoly Karlin, The Ukraine Elections 2019. – unz.com/akarlin/ukraine-elections-2019/
7. Intellinews.com: Zelenskiy comfortably wins first round of Ukraine’s presidential election, according to exit polls.
8. Financial Times: Ukraine election turns ugly as president and comic reach run-off. Poroshenko expected to launch onslaught on Zelensky in bid to make up ground.
9. The New Kremlin Stooge: Mark Chapman, New Management Wanted: Ukraine Cannot Seem to Stop Delighting Putin. – thenewkremlinstooge.wordpress.com/2019/03/31/new-management-wanted-ukraine-cannot-seem-to-stop-delighting-putin/#more-258
10. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, Ukraine’s President Poroshenko Praises Anti-Russia Sentiment In Election Victory.
11. Interfax: War in Donbas will end ‘when last piece of Ukrainian land is liberated’
12. TASS: Parliamentary committee recommends adopting statement rejecting results of Ukrainian vote.
13. Vesti.ru: No April Fool’s Joke! First Round of Ukrainian Elections Puts Comedian Zelensky on Top of Heap! – vesti.ru/doc.html?id=3132671&cid=4441]
14. RFE/RL: Russian State Media Highlights The Negative In Ukrainian Presidential Vote.
15. TASS: Medvedev says he may like rap and hip-hop someday.
16. Interfax: Jailed ex-minister Abyzov not depressed, actively involved in discussing defense matters – lawyer.
17. Intellinews.com: Ben Aris, Russia can cover its debt dollar for dollar in cash.
18. TASS: Nezavisimaya Gazeta: New Skripal Case sanctions can destabilize Russia’s banking system.
19. Russian International Affairs Council: Ivan Timofeev, Firewood and Coal: U.S.-Russia Relations without Mueller. – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/firewood-and-coal-u-s-russia-relations-without-mueller/
20. Russia Matters: William Burns on the ‘Narrow Band of Possibilities’ in US-Russia Relations.
21. www.rt.com: It’s sad to see US diplomacy reduced to ultimatums and sanctions – Lavrov.
22. Reuters: Treaty’s End Would Give U.S., Russia Impetus to Make More Nukes: Study.
23. Russia in Global Affairs: Alexei Fenenko, “Long Peace” and Nuclear Weapons. It is not nuclear weapons that help maintain stability; rather, a gradual decay of the “long peace” will raise the need for the transformation of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons already act not so much as a guarantee against war as a guarantee that your enemy will not use them against you?like chemical weapons in World War II. (excerpt) – eng.globalaffairs.ru/number/Long-Peace-and-Nuclear-Weapons-19990
24. Russian and Eurasian Politics: Gordon Hahn, Trump’s Golan Trump Card: Syria, Moscow, State Sovereignty, and International Security.
25. TASS: Lavrov: Washington informed of what Russian troops are doing in Venezuela.
26. Indian Punchline: M.K. Bhadrakumar, Russia throws down the gauntlet to US on Venezuela. – indianpunchline.com/russia-throws-down-the-gauntlet-to-us-on-venezuela/
27. Vesti.ru: Venezuela Won’t Be Easy For US: Russian S-300s Are Already in Place and Operational! – vesti.ru/doc.html?id=3132674&cid=4441
28. TASS: Izvestia: Russia to focus on Africa ties at upcoming Sochi summit.
29. New York Times: Russia’s Military Mission Creep Advances to a New Front: Africa.
30. Le Monde diplomatique: Georges Lefeuvre, Who wants what from whom in Afghanistan. Back to the Great Game. The US is pulling out of Afghanistan after two decades of fighting, says President Trump; Russia wants a buffer against ISIS; and both are extending their hands to the Taliban ahead of elections in July.
31. Kennan Institute: Robert Papp, Kennan Cable No. 41: A Cyber Treaty With Russia.
32, Valdai Discussion Club: Dmitry Suslov, The Mueller Report Extends, Not Resolves the US-Russia Stalemate. Political infighting in the United States will not ease off, Valdai Club expert Dmitry Suslov writes. Russiagate will continue to be used in this fight as a weapon, and the US political system will remain in torpor. – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/mueller-report-extends-us-russia-stalemate/
33. Bloomberg: Leonid Bershidsky, The U.S. Needs a Post-Mueller Reality Check. The conspiracy narrative wasn’t borne out. Now Americans should dismiss the idea of a Russian “hybrid war.”
34. Medium.com: Caitlin Johnstone, The Illusory Truth Effect: How Millions Were Duped By Russiagate.
35. Vox.com: Did the media botch the Russia story? A conversation with Matt Taibbi. “In purely journalistic terms, this is an epic disaster” – vox.com/2019/3/31/18286902/trump-mueller-report-russia-matt-taibbi