RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#251 table of contents with links :: Friday 5 December 2014

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Johnson’s Russia List
JRL 2014-#251 :: Friday 5 December 2014
E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net
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Ukraine

1. Russia Direct: Dmitry Polikanov, These are the major highlights from Vladimir Putin’s year-end speech. In his much-anticipated year-end address, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not make any major surprise announcements about Russian domestic or foreign policy. Instead, he focused on themes related to patience and stability.
2. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Can small business help Russia bear West’s sanctions? Putin hopes so. The Russian president rolled out a series of liberal economic reforms in his state-of-the-nation speech today, saying that clearing away bureaucratic red tape and offering tax breaks to small business would soften sanctions’ bite.
3. TASS: Putin sends long-awaited message to Russian businesses – analysts.
4. Kremlin.ru: Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly (continued)
5. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with members of the Council for Civil Society and Human Rights and federal and regional human rights commissioners.
6. TASS: Putin agrees it is necessary to correct law on NGO-foreign agents.
7. Interfax: Head of Presidential Human Rights Council disagrees with colleague from Human Rights Watch on human rights situation in Russia
8. Moscow Times: Putin Promises Controlled Freedom in Face of Western Containment.
9. Sputnik: Putin’s Address Proves Russia Seeks No Confrontation With West: Experts.
10. Carnegie Moscow Center: Dmitri Trenin, Putin’s Urbi et Orbi.
11. Levada.ru: Most Russians want to see Putin re-elected in 2018 – poll.
12. Patrick Armstrong: RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP.
13. Reuters: Rivals try to give peace a chance on east Ukraine frontline.
14. Interfax: Date of negotiations with Kyiv has not been determined yet – DPR.
15. Interfax: DPR: Political union with Ukraine is impossible.
16. TASS: Ukraine’s blockade pushes off eastern territories – Donetsk Republic leader.
17. Vedomosti: Kremlin staff changes reveal “displeasure” at situation in east Ukraine – daily.
18. Moscow Times: Brawl Erupts in Ukraine Parliament (Video)
19. Christian Science Monitor: Sabra Ayres, Shrouded by myth, Ukraine’s past proves an obstacle to its future. Ukrainian historians say that to forge a common identity among eastern and western Ukrainians, both sides must better understand history. The UPA, a WWII-era nationalist militia lionized in the west but feared in the east, is a key example.
20. Kyiv Post: Former Azov Battalion leader works to clean up Kyiv regional police, his image.
21. Newsweek.com: Ukraine Moves to ‘Ban Communism’
22. Wall Street Journal: Petro Poroshenko, A Year Later, a New Ukraine. With a new, pro-Europe Parliament in place, we are moving quickly to deliver on needed reforms
23. Wall Street Journal: Ukraine’s Foreign-Currency And Gold Reserves Dip Below $10 Billion. Announcement Suggest Country Will Need More Assistance from the West to Avoid a Default.
24. Business New Europe: Ukraine seeks power and coal from Russia and rebel-held east.
25. Reuters: Lavrov Says Nothing Will Change If West Continues to Blame Russia for Ukraine.
26. Interfax: Lavrov: Moscow has information foreign forces push for Kyiv’s economic siege on Donbas
27. www.rt.com: ‘Bloc discipline’ precludes Western diplomats from criticizing Ukraine – Lavrov.
28. Moscow Times: Chris Weafer, South Stream Cancellation Hits Europe Hardest.
29. New York Times: Europe Keeps Hope Alive for Gas Pipeline From Russia.

Russia

30. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russians focus spending on food and hard goods as weak ruble begins to bite.
31. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Healthcare reform brings protesters to the streets – in Russia.
32. www.rt.com: ‘Russian economy not crashing, but adjusting’. (Aleksey Moiseev)
33. Russia Direct: Irina Mironova, How sinking oil prices could sink Russia’s economy. With oil prices plummeting to five-year lows, there is now growing concern that lower oil prices could undermine Russia’s economic development in the future.
34. Izvestia: Minister warned over “over-pessimistic” economic forecast for Russia – paper. (Aleksey Ulyukayev)
35. Business New Europe: Ben Aris, INTERVIEW: VTB chairman says Russia has been here before. (Sergey Dubinin)
36. TASS: What were terrorists in Grozny aiming at?
37. The Vineyard of the Saker: What the fallout of the recent combats in Grozny says about relationship between Putin and Kadyrov.
38. Carnegie Moscow Center: Maxim Suchko, The Grozny Attacks and Russia’s Relationship with the West.
39. www.rt.com: West behind falling ruble, oil prices – Russian spy chief.
40. New York Times editorial: The Winter of Mr. Putin’s Discontent.
41. The Economist: Putin’s speech. Vladimir the Great. Russia’s president tells his people the West is out to get them.
42. http://readrussia.com: Sean Guillory, Russia-Baiting Anti-Fracking Movements.
43. www.opendemocracy.net: Daniel Kennedy, Who’s afraid of Russia Today? Is RT (formerly Russia Today) really as dangerous or as effective as its critics claim?
44. Observatoire franco-russe : Ivan Safranchuk, PDF: Russian Policy in Central Asia: Strategic Context.