Russia in Review, April 19-26, 2024

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 7 Things to Know The U.S. confirmed this week that it secretly sent long-range missile systems known as ATACMS to Ukraine, with the weapons arriving in the country this month. U.S. President Joe Biden reversed course on a decision to withhold the weapons that some feared could lead to an escalation in the war with Russia […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Moscow hopes frozen assets swap scheme will benefit Russian stocks” – Reuters

File photo of Russian paper currency, adapted from image at csce.house.gov

“Russia hopes its stock market will benefit from a scheme … where Russians who own frozen foreign securities will be able to apply to sell them to foreigners with frozen assets in Russia …. Moscow presents the plan as a way for … Russian and foreign investors to free up assets … blocked by Western sanctions and Russian counter-measures …. […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The West Can No Longer Hesitate on Ukraine” – Foreign Policy: Alexander Vershbow

NATO Meeting File Photo

“Allies must provide Kyiv with what it needs to win the war and secure the peace: arms supplies and a path to NATO membership.” “… [T]he West … need[s] … a clearer strategy for achieving victory and stopping … Putin from overturning the rules-based international order. … [H]esitation and incrementalism in providing Ukraine with the military capabilities … it needs […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin’s Six-Year Manifesto Sets Sights Beyond Ukraine” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Vladimir Putin file photo, adapted from screenshot of video at shareamerica.gov

“Putin’s state of the nation address should have been a mere pre-election formality, but it left an extremely chilling impression of an unraveling spiral of escalation.” “… The horizons of this ‘holy war’ have now expanded. If a year ago, Putin focused on protecting ‘our land’ and relied on defensive and even sacrificial rhetoric, this year he sounded victorious, speaking […]

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The War in Ukraine in a Transitional World Order

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Robert Legvold – Feb. 23, 2024) Robert Legvold is Marshall D. Shulman Professor Emeritus in the department of political science at Columbia University. The fundamental questions raised by the war in Ukraine are like the two sides of a coin: on one side, there is the overarching but largely ignored question of how the war […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The U.S. plan to break Russia’s grip on nuclear fuel” – Financial Times

“Demand for atomic energy is surging but Moscow dominates the world’s supplies of enriched uranium.” “… Utilities companies have spent two years stockpiling nuclear fuel in case Russian supplies are disrupted. … Washington is undertaking a multibillion-dollar push to rebuild its nuclear supply chain …. More than a fifth of the fuel used by the 93 nuclear reactors in the […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Europe needs to step up support for Ukraine” – The Economist

EU Map adapted from cia.gov image

“As a long war with Russia looms, American support can no longer be depended on.” “… [O]nly around 400 square km (154 square miles) of territory had been liberated [in the Ukrainian counteroffensive] …. Russia still occupies about 18% of Ukraine[.] [A]round half … it took in 2014 … annex[ing] Crimea and grabb[ing] the eastern Donbas[.] [T]he rest is … […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Collapse of Global Arms Control” – Time

U.S. Tanks in Field Amidst Military Exercises in Europe, adapted from eucom.mil image

“… Nov. 7 in Moscow, the Kremlin defiantly renounced its membership in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), once thought of as a pillar of European stability. … NATO countries quickly followed suit, suspending … treaty obligations. The CFE is not the only arms control agreement … thrown onto the garbage heap of history in recent years. […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Almost No Russian Oil Sold Below G7 Price Cap – FT” – Moscow Times

Oil Wells File Photo

(Moscow Times – Nov. 14, 2023) Russia has managed to almost entirely circumvent a G7 price cap on its oil exports, with Moscow claiming average sales at more than $20 per barrel above the imposed limit, the Financial Times reported Tuesday, citing Western officials and Russian export data. [ft.com/content/09e8ee14-a665-4644-8ec5-5972070463ad] According to an unnamed senior European official who spoke to FT, […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukrainian military officer coordinated Nord Stream pipeline attack” – Washington Post

Gas Flame file photo

“Roman Chervinsky, a colonel in Ukraine’s special operations forces, was integral to the brazen sabotage operation, say people familiar with planning.” “… Roman Chervinsky, a decorated 48-year-old colonel who served in Ukraine’s special operations forces, [reportedly] was the ‘coordinator’ of … Nord Stream [sabotage] operation … logistics and support for a six-person team that rented a sailboat under false identities […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s New Elite Emerges to Fill Void After Multinationals Flee” – Bloomberg

File Photo of Meeting Room Table with Microphones and Chairs, adapted from image at cdc.gov

“Foreign firms have sold assets worth over $21 billion Third wave of business elite swoops in to grab bargains” “A new cohort of Russian business elite has emerged to benefit from the void left when international firms suddenly exited following … Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. … snapp[ing] up assets at discounted prices after … multinationals … [left due to] pressure […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “U.S., European officials broach topic of peace negotiations with Ukraine, sources say” – NBC

European Portion of Commonwealth of Independent States

“The conversations have included very broad outlines of what Ukraine might need to give up to reach a deal with Russia.” “U.S. and European officials [reportedly] have begun quietly talking to the Ukrainian government about what possible peace negotiations with Russia might entail …. includ[ing] broad outlines of what Ukraine might need to give up …. Some of the talks […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Squeezed by Sanctions, Some Oligarchs Are Heading Home to Putin’s Russia” – Bloomberg

Cash, Calculator, Pen

“Putin’s war in Ukraine is leaving billionaires who sought to integrate with the West to face the reality of international isolation.” “… Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changed everything for [certain Russian oligarchs] … who prospered under Putin until the U.S. and Europe imposed sweeping sanctions aimed at isolating the Kremlin leader and bringing his economy to its knees. The penalties […]

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Russia Analytical Report, Oct. 23-30, 2023

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) The Kremlin stands to benefit from the Israel-Hamas conflict in three ways, according to Hanna Notte of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. The conflict distracts the West from the war in Ukraine; it hinders normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel; and it helps Russia to style itself as David to the Western […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “What Will Happen If the U.S. Stops Funding Ukraine? Nothing Good” – Bloomberg

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“Kyiv has fought too well to simply give up, but Russia and China will achieve their goal of splitting the West.” “[With the loss of U.S. funding for Ukraine,] … the balance on the battlefield [would] shift significantly. Ukraine [wouldn’t] simply surrender … [b]ut given how reliant Ukraine is on [U.S.] arms and ammunition … its situation [would] still get […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Western Firms Continue to Dominate Russian Market in 2023 – Forbes” – Moscow Times

File Photo of Meeting Room Table with Microphones and Chairs, adapted from image at cdc.gov

(Moscow Times – Oct. 2, 2023) U.S., French and German corporations continued to dominate the Russian market in 2023 despite the Western business exodus sparked by the war in Ukraine, according to Forbes Russia’s list of the 50 largest foreign companies in the country. [forbes.ru/biznes/497010-50-krupnejsih-inostrannyh-kompanij-v-rossii-2023-rejting-forbes] The latest ranking, which also saw Chinese companies gain ground, reflects the major geopolitical shifts […]

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In Dealing With Ordinary Russians, the West’s Values Are At Stake

EU Map adapted from cia.gov image

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Ekaterina Kotrikadze, News Director and Anchor, TV Rain (Dozhd TV) – Sept. 27, 2023) Russian citizens are facing new restrictions. European Union authorities have just prohibited them from crossing the union’s border in cars bearing Russian license plates and from carrying certain items with them. As these restrictions were being introduced, European sanctions were being […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Polish experts confirm missile that hit grain facility was Ukrainian – media” – Reuters

Map of Poland, Kaliningrad, Environs, adapted from CRS image at congress.gov

“Polish experts [reportedly] have confirmed that the missile that killed two people at a grain facility in [the village of Przewodow in] southern Poland in November was fired by Ukraine …. The explosion … fueled fears that the war in Ukraine could spiral into a wider conflict … triggering [NATO’s] mutual defense clause, but at the time Warsaw and NATO […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “A Trip to Ukraine Clarified the Stakes. And They’re Huge.” – New York Times

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

“… [W]hen climate change, famine, health crises and so much more are stressing Planet Earth, the last thing humanity needed was to divert so much attention, collaborative energy, money and lives to respond to Putin’s war to make Ukraine a Russian colony again. Putin lately has stopped even bothering to justify the war …. [I]f Ukraine can escape this war […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Why There Are No Game-Changing Weapons for Ukraine” – Foreign Policy/ Franz-Stefan Gady

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“There is no alternative to slowly and methodically reducing Russian forces in Ukraine.” “… The idea that there is a shortcut to victory raises expectations for a quick end to the carnage that Ukraine is unlikely to fulfill. After more than 18 months of grinding, attritional war, it should be obvious that there are no miracle weapons and that there […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Will the West Abandon Ukraine? Kyiv Must Prepare for a Possible Change of Heart in America and Europe” – Foreign Affairs

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“A coalition of the world’s wealthiest and most technologically advanced countries gives Ukraine a major structural advantage. Russia, by contrast, has only two countries—Iran and North Korea — openly assisting it  … although China has been … an important economic backstop … and a provider of nonlethal military aid. … Western military support comes with its own risks and challenges[] […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Staying the course: Donald Trump will ‘never’ support Putin, says Volodymyr Zelensky” – The Economist

Screenshot file photo of Volodymyr Zelensky Gesturing, from Congressional Teleconference, adapted from image at doggett.house.gov

“But Ukraine’s president fears that some of his country’s Western backers are losing faith.” “… Having failed to overwhelm Ukraine quickly, [] Putin seems determined to exhaust the country and to wear out its partners’ resolve to keep funding and supplying it with arms. … But [] Zelensky says Russia itself is fragile. … [suggesting that Russia itself will suffer […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian Agricultural Bank could have SWIFT access within 30 days, UN tells Moscow” – Reuters

Wheat in Field, adapted from image at usda.gov

“A Russian Agricultural Bank subsidiary in Luxembourg could immediately apply to SWIFT to ‘effectively enable access’ for the bank to the international payments system within 30 days, the United Nations told Russia in a letter …. ‘SWIFT has confirmed that RSHB Capital S.A. would be eligible to apply for membership and access to SWIFT for food and fertilizer transactions, based […]

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Russia in Review, Sept. 1-8, 2023

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

7 Things to Know G-20 leaders began arriving in New Delhi on Sept. 8 for their annual gathering as negotiators struggled to bridge differences over the war in Ukraine in the group’s joint statement. While it remains unclear whether a final consensus can be reached, China appears to have dropped its initial opposition to language on Ukraine and Russia, according […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Flagship Oil Above $60 Does Little to Halt G-7 Services” – Bloomberg

Oil Wells file photo, adapted from image at usda.gov

“… The price of Russia’s flagship oil … jump[ing] above a [G7] imposed cap … has done little to impede … western services for the trade. …. About 40% of vessels lifting crude from Russia’s Baltic and Black Sea ports were owned by companies based in countries signed up to the cap. Before the threshold was breached, about half were […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russian Airlines Import $1.2Bln Worth of Western Parts Despite Sanctions – Reuters” – Moscow Times

Russian Plane file photo, adapted from image at ice.gov

(Moscow Times – Aug. 23, 2023) Russian airlines have continued to import spare parts for Western aircraft despite sanctions designed to cut off the flow of key equipment, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing customs data. Ural Airlines, Norwdind Airlines, S7, Aeroflot and others have imported $1.2 billion worth of spare parts from third parties between May 2022 and June 2023, according […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Following Xi’s lead? Russia takes closer look at Chinese ideology.” – Christian Science Monitor

File Photo of Beijing Temple, adapted from image at lbl.gov

“Is Russia’s future aligned with China? Many in Moscow think so, seeing the two countries’ visions aligning not just geopolitically, but also ideologically – though it may cost Russia considerably.” “… Russia’s turn toward Asia, and China in particular, has been greatly accelerated by souring relations with the West …. Western sanctions [have] made it a matter of urgent necessity […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: ‘Vladimir Putin’s useful idiots; Too many European politicians are failing to confront Russia” – The Economist

Europe Map

“… The spectrum of Europe’s Useful Idiots, a cold-war term for unwitting allies of communism, is wide. In politics, parties on both the far right and far left disagree on much; but over Ukraine these extremes have often converged in demanding an instant ‘peace’ that would in effect reward Russian aggression with land. In media and academe, intellectuals still seem […]

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Ukrainians Attempting To Enter Russia Face Days-Long Wait On Border

Map of Baltics and Environs, Including Kaliningrad

(Article text Copyright © 2023 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036. – rferl.org – Yulia Paramonova – June 27, 2023 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/ukrainians-stranded-eu-russia-border/32478057.html) In the neutral territory between Estonian and Russian checkpoints, at Luhamaa on June 21, dozens of Ukrainian passport holders […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia gas flows through Ukraine could stop next year, Kyiv says” – Financial Times

Gas Flame file photo

“Ukrainian energy minister said renewal of five-year transit contract to supply Europe was unlikely” “One of the last arteries carrying Russian gas to Europe could be shut off by the end of [2024] when Ukraine’s … contract with Gazprom expires … Ukrainian [Minister of Energy German] Galushchenko said … the chances of … [contract] renewal … were slim … [T]he […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Treacherous Path to a Better Russia; Ukraine’s Future and Putin’s Fate” – Foreign Affairs/ Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Erica Frantz

Vladimir Putin file photo, adapted from screenshot of video at shareamerica.gov

“… Authoritarian leaders rarely lose power while still waging a war they initiated. … [and] authoritarian regimes most often survive in the wake of the departure of longtime leaders … [W]ere Putin to die … or be removed by insiders, the regime would … likely endure …. One development … could spark more substantive change in Russia: a Ukrainian victory. […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “NATO Has No Good News for Ukraine” – Foreign Policy

NATO meeting file photo

“Next month’s meeting of Western allies will leave the war-torn country mostly empty-handed.” “… [In] 2008 … NATO officially welcomed Ukraine’s aspirations for membership …. Now, after a full-scale Russian invasion, [Ukraine] is being asked to wait longer, without a timeline …. [T]he alliance … offers [Ukraine] perhaps the only chance at dodging future Russian attacks on its sovereignty. … […]

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Russia in Review, June 9-16, 2023 – 7 Things to Know

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Ukraine’s military command claimed, as of June 15, to have retaken approximately 40 square miles of territory in the course of its counteroffensive, even as its soldiers encountered what U.S. military officials described as fierce resistance by Russian troops. The latter have reportedly managed to destroy at least four Leopard-2 tanks, 3 Leopard 2R engineering vehicles […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “As Ukraine Launches Counteroffensive, Definitions of ‘Success’ Vary” – New York Times

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“Privately, U.S. and European officials concede that pushing all of Russia’s forces out of occupied Ukrainian land is highly unlikely.” “… [T]he new military drive will influence discussions of future support for Ukraine … [and] how to guarantee its future. … [U]nclear … is … what the United States, Europe and Ukraine view as a ‘successful’ counteroffensive. … Zelensky has […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Cologne court fines pro-Russia Ukrainian” – DW

Map of Germany

“Elena Kolbasnikova, a Ukrainian national who lives in the western German city of Cologne and has spoken out in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, argues that she has a right to freedom of speech.” “A Ukrainian national … liv[ing] in Cologne … hop[ing] to get a Russian passport …, Elena Kolbasnikova was looking at a [German] prison sentence … […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Interview – Marlene Laruelle” – E-International Relations

Marlene Laruelle file photo, from gwu.edu

“… Q: Where do you see the most exciting research/debates happening in your field? I see a lot of exciting debates happening in the fields of both Russian Studies and Illiberalism. In the field of Russian Studies, there are mixed feelings, obviously, because of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine: a lot of pessimism regarding the future of conducting research in […]

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Russia in Review, May 26-June 2, 2023 – 4 Things to Know

File Photo of Red Square, Kremlin, Environs, adapted from image at state.gov

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Fighting flared up this week between Russian and Ukrainian forces, with the former bombarding Kyiv with missiles and drones and the latter reportedly sending pro-Ukrainian Russian fighters to stage incursions into Russia’s Belgorod region, according to FT and Bloomberg. Ukrainian forces regained control over 51 square miles of their land in the past month, while Russia […]

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Kissinger on Russia: Insights and Recommendations

Henry Kissinger File Photo, with Military Officer and Others in Background; adapted from image at defense.gov,; original image was DoD photo by Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Henry Kissinger and RM Staff – May 26, 2023) This evolving compilation of observations and policy ideas about Russia by Henry Kissinger, an eminent U.S. statesman who turns 100 on May 27, 2023, was the first in Russia Matters’ “Competing Views” series, where we share prominent American thinkers’ alternative takes on U.S.-Russian relations, Russia itself […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine feels the pressure of time and rising expectations” – Financial Times

File Photo of G7 Summit in Hiroshima, with Heads of State Seated at Table with Flags, Joined by Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

“Last weekend’s G7 summit must not be the high point of international support for Kyiv.” “… [D]iplomatic and military support offered … Zelenskyy at the G7 [summit] was a big boost …. [T]he danger is that it could be remembered as the high watermark of international backing …. The U.S. and the Europeans believe … their efforts have worked … […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Economist explains: Who blew up the Nord Stream pipelines? Lots of blame, no hard evidence” – The Economist

Gas Flame file photo

“Last September, when explosions damaged Nord Stream 1 and 2 … evidence of a culprit was scant. Some European governments suspected Russia. … Putin had been threatening to cut off energy supplies to Europe in retaliation for sanctions …. Russia … blamed America and Britain. Six months later American intelligence officials … [and] German and British news organisations[] have suggested […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: Russia set to mothball damaged Nord Stream gas pipelines – sources” – Reuters

Gas Flame file photo

“Russia’s ruptured undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines [reportedly] are set to be sealed up and mothballed as there are no immediate plans to repair or reactivate them …. Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, each consisting of two pipes, were built by … Gazprom to pump 110 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas a year to Germany under […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Why the War Will Continue: One year in, the war in Ukraine shows no sign of ending.” – Council on Foreign Relations/ Richard Haass

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“… Putin’s calculation that the benefits of invading would dwarf the costs became a formula for disaster. Putin now finds himself playing for time. Unable to defeat Ukraine’s military, he is attacking economic and civilian targets, hoping to break the will of Ukrainians. … [and perhaps hoping that] European governments … [and] the U.S.[] rethink the costs of supporting Ukraine. […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “‘Russian Forces Strengthen Positions as Ukraine Braces for New Offensive” – WSJ

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“… Ukrainian officials have warned Russia is preparing for a fresh offensive to coincide with the first anniversary of its full-scale invasion … Moscow began mobilizing roughly 300,000 additional men last September after Ukrainian forces drove Russia out of swaths of territory …. More than half … [reportedly] are likely to be deployed in any new offensive …. [with] [t]he […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Sanctions aren’t keeping name brands out of Russia. Why not?” – Christian Science Monitor

Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

“Western sanctions aren’t keeping iPhones off Russian shelves or Hollywood films out of Moscow’s theaters. ‘Parallel imports’ are making Russia’s economy more resilient than expected.” “… Frustrating U.S. and European sanctions hawks, Russia appears to be weathering the West’s attempts to damage its economy in response to the invasion of Ukraine. … Via what are known as ‘parallel imports,’ Russian […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Europe Needs a Strategy for Russia After Putin; Competing ideas about the end state of the war are striving for dominance” – Foreign Policy/ Bart M. J. Szewczyk

Map of Europe, adapted from image at loc.gov

“As defense ministers of NATO and other nations met … and tried to resolve … divisions over supplying Ukraine with the heavy weapons it needs to drive Russian forces out of its territory … there are very different visions of the end state of the war and the region’s future. Among European countries, especially, there are stark differences … [with] […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Sanctions on Russia Are Working. Here’s Why.” – Foreign Policy/ Agathe Demarais

File Image of Artist's Conception of Globe with Curved Connecting Lines of Light Passing Through Space, adapted from image at fincen.gov

“The Kremlin’s ability to wage war is already constrained, but the worst is yet to come.” “… [I]ncessant debates over the effectiveness of sanctions … serve[] the Kremlin’s interests. … [W]inter fast approaching, Putin is betting that sanctions fatigue will soon set in. … [D]ata show[] that the people claiming sanctions are ineffective are wrong: Only nine months after … […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “EU Asks Members to Set Russia Oil-Price Cap at $60” – WSJ

Oil Well file photo

“Move is an attempt to squeeze the Kremlin’s oil revenues while keeping global supplies steady.” “The European Commission, the [EU]’s executive body, [reportedly] has asked the [EU]’s 27 member states to approve a … Russian oil [price cap] of $60 a barrel …. significantly below the international benchmark … Brent …. … [T]he [G7] … nations [would] need to sign […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “A dark state; Vladimir Putin is in thrall to a distinctive brand of Russian fascism; That is why his country is such a threat to Ukraine, the West and his own people” – The Economist

Vladimir Putin file photo, adapted from screenshot of video at shareamerica.gov

“… A decade ago [when][] Putin’s popularity began to wane[] [h]e … [started] drawing on … fascist thinking … caught up in a cycle of grievance and resentment that has left reason far behind. … culminat[ing] in a ruinous war that … defied the weighing of risks and rewards. … Without the rhetoric of victimhood and the use of violence, […]

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JRL NEWSBLOG: “The U.S. has admitted 100,000 Ukrainian migrants. It must keep going.” – Washington Post

Statue of Liberty Head and U.S. Flag, adapted from image at uscis.gov

“The United States has now met … [a] goal … to legally admit ‘up to’ 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing … Putin’s blood-soaked invasion. That … shouldn’t mark the end of … [a] commitment to shar[e] the burden of the … humanitarian nightmare …. The administration … should prepare for another 100,000. … [M]any … allies have shouldered a greater refugee burden […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “What Putin Fights For” – Andrew Doris, Thomas Graham/ Survival (IISS)

Vladimir Putin file photo, adapted from screenshot of video at shareamerica.gov

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reignited debate over the role of NATO expansion …. Robert Person and Michael McFaul dismiss Russian President Vladimir Putin’s NATO concerns as a ‘fiction,’ arguing that it was actually the expansion of democracy that threatened his autocratic regime. … Democracy and NATO expansion were not separate issues for Putin and the Russian elite, but mutually […]

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