RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#71 :: Friday, 26 April 2019

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#71 :: Friday, 26 April 2019
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1. Sputnik: U.S. Court Sentences Russian National Butina to 18 Months in Prison.
2. The New Republic: Charles Bamford, The Spy Who Wasn’t. The U.S. government went looking for someone to blame for Russia’s interference in the 2016 election-and found Maria Butina, the perfect scapegoat.
3. Carnegie Moscow Center: Dmitri Trenin, It’s Time to Rethink Russia’s Foreign Policy Strategy. A broad public discussion on Moscow’s foreign policy goals and objectives is long overdue. International issues are affecting the interests of Russian society as a whole more and more, making it necessary for private citizens to take a greater interest in their country’s conduct abroad, especially in the single continental space that is Greater Eurasia.
4. www.rt.com: Don’t worry, be Russian: 86 percent of population says they’re happy – poll.
5. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, By playing Korean peacemaker, Putin seeks to revive Russia’s Far East. Is there now an area in which Russia is not in competition with the U.S.? Our Moscow correspondent offers a look at Vladimir Putin in an unexpected role: mediator.
6. Russia Matters: Simon Saradzhyan, With North Korea, Russia Knows It Can Only Play Second Fiddle to China and US.
7. Valdai Discussion Club: Konstantin Asmolov, Putin-Kim Summit: In a Warm and Friendly Atmosphere. – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/putin-kim-summit-in-a-warm-and-friendly-atmosphere/
8. AP: Putin lauds China infrastructure initiative, warming ties.
9. Interfax: Putin: One Belt, One Road initiative lays down int’l relations principles that are relevant today.
10. www.rt.com: Belt and Road to make Russia-China trade more balanced – experts to RT.
11. Russia Matters: ‘Track 2’ Talks Take US-Russian Relations Where Official Channels Won’t.
12. Moscow Times: Sam Greene, Putin’s ‘Passportization’ Move Aimed At Keeping the Donbass Conflict on Moscow’s Terms. But don’t expect a major escalation just yet.
13. The Hill: John Solomon, How the Obama White House engaged Ukraine to give Russia collusion narrative an early boost.
14. Reuters: Ukraine’s president-elect says being blocked from calling snap poll.
15. Intellinews.com: Maya Janik, After the Ukrainian presidential elections: Anything is possible and nothing is certain.
16. Russian International Affairs Council: Ekaterina Chimiris and Olga Pylova, Foreign Political Tasks for Ukraine’s New President. – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/foreign-political-tasks-for-ukraine-s-new-president/
17. New Cold War: Ukraine’s presidential election: the society of the spectacle. Ukraine voters have elected a TV comedy actor as their new president. In this piece, written exclusively for the New Cold War website by our regular contributor on Ukraine, Dmitriy Kovalevich, he discusses Vladimir Zelensky’s resounding victory and what this could mean for the country’s fragmented political framework and its people’s future. – newcoldwar.org/ukraines-presidential-election-the-society-of-the-spectacle/
18. Vedomosti: Russian daily views ‘lessons’ to learn from Ukrainian election.
19. Jacobin: Volodymyr Ishchenko, A Comedian in a Drama. In Sunday’s election Ukrainian voters dealt a decisive rebuttal to the post-Maidan establishment. Yet well-organized nationalist forces represent a time bomb under the new president-elect
20. Strategic Culture Foundation editorial: Why Ukraine’s Comedian President Is Likely to Be More Joke Than Solution. The ordinary Ukrainian pe ople are so sick and tired of the militaristic nationalism as well as endemic corruption in Kiev that they voted for someone, anyone, who appears slightly more reasonable. – strategic-culture.org/news/2019/04/26/why-ukraines-comedian-president-is-likely-to-be-more-joke-than-solution/
21. Sarah Lindemann-Komarova: Russiagate, There are No Winners.