RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2020-#21 :: Thursday, 30 January 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#22 :: Friday, 31 January 2020
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1. www.rt.com: Russia closes its Far East border with China in attempt to prevent spread of new coronavirus.
2. Interfax: Russian govt should do its best to protect population from coronavirus – Mishustin.
3. www.rt.com: Russia will relax tourist visa rules, allowing stays of up to 6 months & simplified applications – Izvestia.
4. Paul Goble: Global Warming Hitting Russia Nearly Twice and the Russian North Three Times as Hard as Rest of the World, Prompting Moscow to Launch Adaptation Program.
5. Intellinews.com: Timothy Ash, Putin moves from “Fortress Russia” to “Go for Growth”. Having built up massive hard currency reserves and believing the threat from the west is contained, Putin is ready to loosen the purse string and focus more on boosting the economy
6. Meduza: Russia’s constitutional reform proposal would remove the word ‘independent’ from a current federal law’s description of the Constitutional Court.
7. RFE/RL: Russia To Devote Extra $67 Billion To Tackle Demographic Crisis.
8. Carnegie Moscow Center: Alexander Baunov, Why Aren’t Russians Protesting Putin’s Reforms? Most Russians are dumbfounded and intrigued, but not necessarily angry at Putin’s strategy of commencing constitutional change before anyone expected it. This may only change if people’s current expectations are confounded, and Putin doesn’t step down as president after all.
9. Moskovsky Komsomolets: Daily says Putin’s constitutional reform step towards leaving post. (Mikhail Rostovsky)
10. Politico.eu: Alec Luhn, Who will replace Putin? Russian leader is likely to choose a loyal successor who will ensure Putinism lives on.
11. TASS: PM Mishustin denies plans to expand police access to Russians’ personal data.
12. Moscow Times: Russian Officers Charged With Framing Investigative Journalist Golunov.
13. www.rt.com: Anti-Semitism is at record low in Russia – chief rabbi.
14. Financial Times: Russia: adapting to sanctions leaves economy in robust health. Analysts say Moscow now has more to fear from a removal of restrictions than additional ones.
15. TASS: US sanctions undermine basis for mutual cooperation with Russia – embassy.
16. Intellinews.com: Russian banks finish 2019 with clear profits and steady growth.
17. Moscow Times: Russia’s Consumer Debt Still Growing, but Bubble Fears Easing. New statistics show the Central Bank’s fight against a consumer debt bubble is starting to have an effect.
18. Oilprice.com: The Real Reason Russia Wants A Ceasefire In Libya.
19. The National Interest: Michael Krepon, The Long-Term Costs of NATO Expansion. NATO expansion was pre-cooked in 1993. It would have taken an extraordinarily farsighted president, largely immune from political pressures, to have opted for political, military and economic engagement without NATO expansion.
20. Russia International Affairs Council: Leonid Gusev, Prospects for the Fight against Extremism and Terrorism in the Central Asian Region – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/prospects-for-the-fight-against-extremism-and-terrorism-in-the-central-asian-region/
21. Carnegie Moscow Center: Artyom Shraibman, Oil Spoils the Russia-Belarus Romance. Belarus’s resolution to become less dependent on Russian oil has nothing to do with its economy. Minsk is making a political statement with the aim of depriving Moscow of one of its main bargaining chips in their relationship.
22. Russian International Affairs Council: Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky, Moldova in 2020-2021 – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/moldova-in-2020-2021/
23. Paul Goble: West has Used Russophobia and Sanctions Against Russia for More than 500 Years, Veretennikov Says.
24. Kyiv Post: Timothy Ash, Signs that Putin is softening his stance on Ukraine.
25. Komsomolskaya Pravda: Alexander Grishin: Surkov’s resignation: Will Moscow’s policy towards Ukraine change?
26. Kyiv Post: Oleksiy Sorokin, Who is Dmitry Kozak, Putin’s new point man for Ukraine?
27. www.rt.com: Ex-president Poroshenko investigated in Ukraine over embezzlement, allegedly stealing US aid – rt.com/news/479526-ukraine-poroshenko-investigated-embezzlement-stealing/
28. www.rt.con: Poroshenko ‘most corrupt president ever,’ Hunter Biden’s board job may have been bribe for his father – UkraineGate documentary.
[Text with video https://www.rt.com/news/479578-burisma-biden-poroshenko-corruption-berruyer/]
[See also https://consortiumnews.com/2020/01/29/part-three-of-ukrainegate-inconvenient-facts/]
29. Counterpunch: Jefferson Morleu, Weakest Link: Impeachment and National Security – counterpunch.org/2020/01/29/weakest-link-impeachment-and-national-security/
30. Real Clear Politics: Michael Tracey, Democrats’ Dubious Impeachment Subtext of Treason. (With comment by Fred Weir)