Steve Witkoff is supposed to put pressure on Putin. The situation in the morning

Good morning, dear readers!

Vladimir Putin only stays a few days. At least that’s how his counterattack Donald Trump, who gave him an ultimatum. A period of ten days has been running since July 29. Until then, Putin should at least reach a ceasefire in the Ukraine War-otherwise it will set something for Putin.

Today Trump’s husband is supposed to put even more pressure on peace in Moscow. According to reports, the special sent Steve Witkoff will arrive in Russia for talks.

There will be a meeting with Russia on Wednesday, the Republican Trump said on Tuesday (local time) to journalists. “We’ll see what happens.” He did not provide any more information – even who takes part in the meeting.

According to the AFP news agency, Witkoff should speak to representatives of the Russian leadership on Wednesday. Whether he also meets Putin remains unclear. A Kremlin spokesman had not excluded this at the beginning of the week. Russian media, including the state agency TASS, also report on Witkoff’s visit, but referred to uninterrupted sources.

If Putin expires the deadline, Trump threatens punitive tariffs against Russia and its trading partner. He wants to weaken the economic basis of the Kremlin, especially by pressure on large energy buyers such as China and India. Trump had already announced on Monday that I wanted to prove India with higher tariffs in the context of the Russian war of aggression.

Witkoff is Trump’s husband for Ukraine and the Middle East, where he is supposed to create peace – a task that many failed before him.

The magazine “The Atlantic” calls him the “actual foreign minister” of the USA and the “special officers for more or less everything”. The real estate entrepreneur describes himself as the “special representative of the president of peace missions”. He did not have foreign policy experience when Trump appointed him. For months he has been traveling to Russia and the Middle East instead of Foreign Minister Marco Rubio. In between he informs Trump in the White House. Its influence is so great that Trump’s Ukrainian officer Keith Kellogg is hardly mentioned.

So far, Witkoff has achieved little in terms of peace. But he ensured other successes: in February he negotiated the release of the American Marc Fogel in Moscow. In May, he contributed to the fact that Hamas made the US Israeli hostage of Edan Alexander in the Gaza Strip.

Witkoff has been friends with Trump for almost 40 years. Both come from New York and became rich with real estate. They got to know each other, said Witkoff, in a delicatessen. There he bought Trump a ham and cheese sandwich-because he had no money. Which can start with such a diplomatic career …

Here in Japan, from where I deliver the morning | star, is a special, but also a sad day. He warns us of what war brings about suffering and terror – and is more important than ever today.

Hiroshima commemorates the victims of the atomic bombing 80 years ago. At 8.15 a.m. local time-the moment when the US bomber “Enola Gay” on August 6, 1945 the first atomic bomb, called “Little Boy”, over which city was absorbed-held a minute’s silence. Tens of thousands died immediately during the explosion at the time, until the end of 1945 it was an estimated 140,000 people. Three days after Hiroshima, a second nagasaki atomic bomb hit. Shortly afterwards the Japanese Empire surrendered.

At the ceremony, Mayor Kazumi Matsui appealed to the young generation of continuing the fight against nuclear weapons: “Our youth, the managers of coming generations, must recognize that misguided decisions can be consequently completely inhuman in questions of military expenditure, national security and nuclear weapons.” May these words reach us all.

The citizens’ allowance was actually a bastow apple before it was introduced. The CDU/CSU calls for a reform of social benefits. CSU boss Markus Söder, with his demand to delete the citizens’ allowance for Ukrainian refugees, has poured oil back into the fire. His proposal, retrospectively, to pay all Ukrainian refugees no longer paying citizens’ allowance, found support in the CDU and in the AfD and BSW. Criticism came from the SPD and the Greens.

“We should all concentrate on the coalition agreement. I can only advise everyone, otherwise we have completely different problems in this coalition,” said chairwoman Bärbel Bas the broadcaster World TV. In the coalition agreement, it has been agreed to abolish the citizens’ allowance only for newly incoming Ukrainians, she emphasized. Vice Chancellor and Co-SPD leader Lars Klingbeil also rejected Söder’s push.

In order to reduce the increasing citizenship expenses, the federal government plans to bring more people to work and to tighten sanctions. In addition, refugees who come from Ukraine after April 1 of this year should only receive lower asylum seekers, but no longer any citizens’ allowance.

Söder justifies his proposal with the fact that fewer Ukrainians work in Germany than in other countries. According to a study by the Institute for Labor Market and Vocational Research (IAB) of 2024, the employment rate of Ukrainian war refugees is 27 percent- a value in the European midfield. However, researchers indicate that the countries and social systems of the countries sometimes differ significantly. In addition, the bureaucratic hurdles in Germany are higher.

Yesterday I reported in the morning | Stern about volunteers in England who accompany and protect the ducks on their way to the place of sleep. Amsterdam also has a animal welfare project – but for cats instead of ducks. The city is investing up to 100,000 euros in wooden podium along the canals in the center to save cats from the water, as the British newspaper reported. These levels are intended to prevent cats and other animals from drowning in areas with high walls. According to the animal welfare organization Dieren Amsterdam, 19 cats have drowned in the canals in the past six months, six of them in the center. Stairs are to be created in the most dangerous places this year so that cats can climb safely ashore.

The nearby city of Amersfoort announced the construction of around 300 cat stairs along their quays and channels in June to keep cats from drowning. The municipality plans to install around 300 cat stairs annually as part of an animal welfare program.

The historian Omer Bartov once served in the Israeli army. Today he accuses his country of genocide. A conversation about responsibility, lost home – and hope:

How did you like this morning | Star? Please write it to me: rune.weichert@stern.de

I wish you a nice Wednesday! Warm, you