RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2020-#96 :: Thursday, 28 May 2020

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#96 :: Thursday, 28 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. Global Times (China): Sergey Lavrov, Conclusion and mission on COVID-19 – globaltimes.cn/content/1189830.shtml
2. TASS: Restrictions to stay in Moscow until COVID-19 vaccine is ready – mayor.
3. rt.com: Russian capital to see quarantine rules relaxed as govt outlines anti-coronavirus plan until 2021.
4. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/63416
5. Kremlin.ru: Meeting on labour market situation – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/63419
6. Intellinews: A third of Russians believe that the danger of the coronavirus epidemic is exaggerated or a fiction.
7. www.rt.com: Bryan MacDonald, Moscow has secret Covid-19 CURE for chosen elite: Western media’s favorite Russian pundit voices new conspiracy theory – rt.com/op-ed/489933-moscow-coronavirus-cure-solovey/
8. Facebook: Fred Weir, Re “Russia’s suspiciously low Covid mortality rates”
9. Washington Post: In Russia’s pandemic struggles, even Putin couldn’t speed bonuses to health workers.
10. GlobalVoices: Maxim Edwards, Kremlin Expands Online Voting Possibilities Amid COVID-19 Fears. Moscow takes its latest step towards digitizing elections.
11. Meduza: Russia finally passed legislation to improve living conditions in psychiatric care homes, but this breakthrough is still sorely lacking.
12. Facebook: Fred Weir, Re “How the Coronavirus Revealed the Hollowness of Putin’s Vertical of Power'”
13. The New Yorker: Joshua Yaffa, How the Coronavirus Revealed the Hollowness of Putin’s “Vertical of Power”
14. Moscow Times: Mark Galeotti, No Victory Day for Sobyanin, or the Other Regional Bosses. Even in the best-case scenario, the victory parade will mean more infections across Russia.
15. RFE/RL: The Indispensable Mr. Kadyrov? Questions About Chechen Leader’s Health Prompt New Questions About Region’s Future.
16. Bloomberg: Coronavirus Tightens Putin’s Economic Grip. Russia’s fiscal remedies for the coronavirus and oil price crises will suit its bigger, state-influenced companies.
17. TASS: Izvestia: Russia could face 7.5% GDP drop following pandemic.
18. TASS: Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Consumer crisis hammers Russia harder than China or US.
19. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, Russia’s Economy Coming In Worse Than Expected Because Of Pandemic.
20. Oilprice.com: Russia Ready To Boost Production As Soon As OPEC+ Deal Ends.
21. Financial Times: Gazprom calls Washington’s bluff on Nord Stream 2 sanctions. Move to complete pipeline alone is a bet US will not dare target Russian gas giant itself.
22. Reuters: U.S. Senators Weigh Additional Sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2.
23. Asia Times: Russia won’t get caught up in another moon race. ‘We are not going to take part in some lunar race that resembles an election competition between Republicans and Democrats’
24. Indian Punchline: M.K. Bhadrakumar, Covid-19 impacts global alignments. Russia-China partnership challenges US global hegemony.
25. The National Interest: Robert Rabil, Why America Has Misdiagnosed Russia’s Role in Syria. Washington’s reading of the political map of the Middle East is fraught with erroneous assumptions similar to those that predicted the collapse of the Syrian regime during the initial months of the Syrian rebellion.
26. AFP: Moscow, Ankara ‘divide up influence’ in Libya: analysts.
27. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, IN LIBYA, TURKEY HASN’T WON YET; RUSSIA HASN’T LOST YET; THE US AND ITS PROTECTORATE OF GREECE, CYPRUS AND ISRAEL ARE LOSING EVERYTHING. (excerpt)
28. Russia Matters: Dmitry Gorenburg, Russia and Collective Security: Why CSTO Is No Match for Warsaw Pact.
29. www.rt.com: US could conduct live NUCLEAR test ‘within months’ if Trump orders it.
30. Counterpunch: Melvin Goodman, Trump’s War on Arms Control and Disarmament.
31. BMB Ukraine: Sergii Leshchenko: The Poroshenko-Biden tapes are “advantageous for Russia”
32. TASS: Kommersant: Ukraine pursuing integration with EU and NATO.
33. The Hill: Kevin Brock, New FBI document confirms the Trump campaign was investigated without justification.

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