RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2020-#92 :: Thursday, 21 May 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#92 :: Thursday, 21 May 2020
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. Russian International Affairs Council: Andrey Kortunov, COVID-19 Presents Both Opportunities and Threats to Russia’s Foreign Policy – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/covid-19-presents-both-opportunities-and-threats-to-russia-s-foreign-policy/
2. Meduza: Russia’s coronavirus spread continues to slow, as recovered patient population nears 100,000.
3. www.rt.com: For the first time, Russian coronavirus recoveries OUTNUMBER new diagnoses – rt.com/russia/489209-russia-covid-recovery-toll-rises/
4. TASS: Russia’s coronavirus situation begins to stabilize, says watchdog official.
5. TASS: US grants ventilators to Moscow’s Pirogov Center.
6. Moscow Times: Putin Wants Russia to Get Back to Normal. New Outbreaks Show It May Be Too Early. Budget deficits are driving regions to lift quarantine restrictions. But poor data could be hiding a second coronavirus wave.
8. Kremlin.ru: Meeting on the situation in education system – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/63376
9. Kremlin.ru: Meeting on agriculture and food industry – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/63371
10. Kremlin.ru: Meeting on implementing economic and social support measures – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/63369
11. Government.ru: Meeting of the Presidium of the Government Coordination Council to control the incidence of the novel coronavirus infection in the Russian Federation – government.ru/en/news/39718/
12. TASS: Izvestia: Russia’s air travel slowly coming back to life.
13. The Unz Review: Anatoly Karlin, Jumping Ivans – unz.com/akarlin/jumping-ivans/#comments [Also by Karlin: “What Does Russian’s ‘Generation Z’ Think?”: – unz.com/akarlin/what-does-russians-generation-z-think/ ….. “Corona Probably Out of Control in Dagestan” – unz.com/akarlin/corona-probably-out-of-control-in-dagestan/]
14. AP: ‘We’re Expendable’: Russian Doctors Face Hostility, Mistrust.
15. Russia Beyond: 5 reasons to watch ‘The Outbreak’, a Russian mini-series about an epidemic – rbth.com/arts/332201-outbreak-russian-series-epidemic
16. theduran.com: Another day, another fail: Bloomberg MIXES UP hospital bed stats of Russia & OECD in attack on country’s Covid-19 response – theduran.com/another-day-another-fail-bloomberg-mixes-up-hospital-bed-stats-of-russia-oecd-in-attack-on-countrys-covid-19-response/
17. Bloomberg: How Putin’s Russia Bungled the Pandemic. The rapid spread of Covid-19 has strained a Russian health system that’s suffering from poor funding and incomplete post-Soviet reforms.
18. The Economist: Anatomy of lies. Russia’s covid-19 outbreak is far worse than the Kremlin admits. Like its Soviet predecessor, Vladimir Putin’s system is steeped in falsehoods.
19. Washington Post: Michael McFaul, The pandemic shows that Putin is not a strong leader.
20. Paul Goble: 2020, Intended to Be Putin’s Triumph, Becoming Instead His Waterloo, Shevtsova Says.
21. RFE/RL: ‘Rage Is Brewing’: Navalny Warns Of Public Anger Over Russia’s COVID-19 Response.
22. Intellinews: Russia’s GDP shrinks by 20% in April, but government maintains a triple surplus.
22a. Moscow Times: Russian Ruble Hits 10-Week High on Investor Optimism.
23. Wall Street Journal: Russia’s Economy Suffers Double Hit From Oil Slump and Coronavirus. As infections grow, Russia finds a shortfall in oil revenue hurts its ability to offer the kind of emergency support provided in the West.
24. www.rt.com: ‘If you’re riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount’: Veteran Kremlin insider Chubais says oil is DONE – rt.com/russia/489196-business-chubais-oil-finished/
25. TASS: Kommersant: Russia’s plans to extend Northern Sea Route may prove problematic.
26. www.rt.com: EU court rejects Nord Stream 2’s complaint, insists it must share Russian gas pipeline to Europe with competitors – rt.com/business/489293-nord-stream-eu-court/
27. The Diplomat: Nicholas Trickett, COVID-19: A Reckoning for Russia’s Asian Energy Aims. As COVID-19 fundamentally disrupts the energy market, Russia’s economic reliance on China deepens without much prospect for future growth.
28. Russian International Affairs Council: Andrey Kortunov, A Sad Anniversary: Ten Years of the Partnership for Modernization – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/a-sad-anniversary-ten-years-of-the-partnership-for-modernization/
29. New York Times: Trump to Withdraw From ‘Open Skies’ Arms Control Treaty. Mr. Trump’s decision, the third major retreat from arms control agreements, will be viewed as evidence that he also plans an exit from the last major arms treaty with Russia: New START.
30. Newsweek: Colin Clarke and William Courtney, For All Its Success Propping Up Assad, Russia Cannot Stabilize Syria Alone. It Needs the West.
31. Valdai Discussion Club: Alexei Kupriyanov, Time to Learn Neutrality. Neither India nor Russia are interested in the US-China confrontation: the winner would be too strong, and a war between the two nuclear powers is likely to escalate into a conflict involving the use of nuclear weapons, the escalation of which could get out of control, writes Valdai Club expert Alexei Kupriyanov. Thus, the only reasonable option is flexible neutrality friendly or hostile, depending on the successes of one – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/time-to-learn-neutrality/
32. www.rt.com: Russian Embassy ridicules Pulitzer Board for awarding prize to NYT’s ‘undiluted fabrications’ – rt.com/usa/487842-new-york-times-russia-pulitzer/
33. National Post (Canada): Rex Murphy, It was the most explosive story of the past century. And the media got it wrong. The story of Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia was a hoax. So, where are the acknowledgements of this calamitous fiasco? – nationalpost.com/opinion/rex-murphy-it-was-the-most-explosive-story-of-the-past-century-and-the-media-got-it-wrong
34. Jacobin: Branko Marcetic, Collusion Is in the Eye of the Beholder. Russiagate looks less like a righteous crusade for truth and justice and more like the typical shenanigans for which the FBI and US security state have long been known: prosecutorial overreach, entrapment, and the criminalization of foreign policy dissent.

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