RIn negotiations on the release of two Americans imprisoned in Moscow, usa is said to have demanded the transfer of the convicted Russian in the so-called Tiergarten murder case. The US broadcaster CNN reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the talks. Russia submitted this request to the United States earlier this month via informal intelligence channels.
According to the report, the request was classified as problematic, among other things, because the 56-year-old is in prison in Germany. In addition, Moscow is demanding the release of Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who has been imprisoned in the United States.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Friday for the first time since the war in Ukraine began. The background is an offer by the USA that the release of the US basketball player Brittney Griner imprisoned in Russia and the American citizen Paul Whelan should be achieved. The US government has not yet released any details regarding the nature of the offer and has not confirmed that it will be a prisoner swap. Up until now, there had always been reports of an exchange of prisoners with arms dealer Bout.
The so-called Tiergarten murder had led to diplomatic upheavals between Germany and Russia. Both states expelled several diplomats from the other country. In August 2019, a Georgian was shot dead in the Kleiner Tiergarten park in Berlin. The Berlin Court of Appeal had sentenced a Russian to life imprisonment. The judges were convinced that he acted on behalf of Russian state authorities. Russia denies such allegations.
“Holding two wrongly imprisoned Americans hostage in exchange for the release of a Russian murderer in the custody of a third country is not a serious counteroffer. It is a malicious attempt to sidestep the present offer, which Russia should accept,” CNN quoted National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson as saying.
All developments in the live ticker:
6:57 a.m. – Trittin: The Green Party Congress would have to decide on longer nuclear lifespans
Former Federal Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin demands that, if necessary, a Green party conference must decide on longer nuclear lifespans and the controversial untying of the nuclear phase-out. “If you seriously want to change the Atomic Energy Act, it won’t work without a party congress,” Trittin told the Tagesspiegel on Saturday. “Whether that has to be a special party conference or whether we might do it at the regular one in October is another question.”
The party left Trittin is clearly once morest any form of longer running times: “A stretching operation is also a running time extension. We have to change the Atomic Energy Act for this,” said Trittin, emphasizing: “We will not touch that.” Otherwise, the FDP would hope to “negotiate everything possible with the Union,” Trittin warned of a door opener for a fundamental withdrawal of the nuclear phase-out planned for the end of 2022.
06:51 am – German cities reduce lighting of buildings and monuments
In view of the impending shortage of gas and high energy prices, the lights are increasingly going out at night in many German cities, including Hanover and Bremen. As a survey by the Evangelical Press Service (epd) among the administrations of large cities revealed, many are already doing without the illumination of landmarks, monuments and prominent buildings such as town halls, museums and libraries. Where all the lights are still on at night, energy saving measures are currently being examined almost everywhere.
This week, Berlin publicly switched off the nocturnal irradiation of its sights. Landmarks such as the Victory Column, the Berlin Cathedral or the Lustgarten are no longer illuminated. The spotlights are to be gradually disconnected at a total of 200 objects – which, however, costs regarding as much as simply letting the light run for a year. In addition, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the Bundestag have also ordered “energy saving”. The lighting at Bellevue Palace and the Reichstag building with its famous dome have been greatly reduced.
06:09 a.m. – Lemke does not rule out the continued operation of the Isar 2 nuclear power plant
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) is open to short-term continued operation of the Bavarian nuclear power plant Isar 2 under certain circumstances. “If the stress test shows that Bavaria might actually have a serious electricity or grid problem, then we will evaluate this situation and the options that then exist,” she told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper (FAS). “We don’t know the results yet,” she added. It is important to wait for the results of the stress test by the Ministry of Economics and to examine them soberly.
At the same time, Lemke made it clear that the situation with regard to the Bavarian kiln had changed since the spring. “In March, the power plant operators assured us that the fuel elements would be used up by the end of the year, and that operation would only be possible in 2023 if the output was reduced accordingly in 2022. Everyone agreed that this would not make sense,” she emphasized. “Later we were informed that the fuel elements in the Isar 2 nuclear power plant might probably last a few months longer”.
1:42 a.m. – Esken once more brings excess profit tax into play
The SPD wants to eliminate the resistance of the coalition partner FDP to an excess profit tax: “The SPD will make a new attempt to introduce an excess profit tax for corporations that enrich themselves from the crisis,” said party leader Saskia Esken in an interview with the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” ( NOZ).
“It is unacceptable that energy companies are making profits from the crisis at a time when the state is stabilizing gas suppliers with a solidarity price levy or even with taxpayers’ money. This is rightly felt to be a great injustice.”
FDP boss and Finance Minister Christian Lindner has so far been once morest an excess profit tax, partly because it is not to be applied precisely.
“I know Mr. Lindner’s objections,” said Esken, but emphasized: “The fact that companies without their own performance are benefiting from the crisis is an imbalance that we have to tackle. Several countries have long since introduced an excess profit tax.” She pointed out that “in the first few weeks, the petroleum companies had not fully passed on the tank discount to consumers”.
1:36 a.m. – FDP proposes heating cost savings bonus for Hartz IV recipients
The FDP proposes a bonus for Hartz IV recipients who save on heating costs. “For many people, the significantly increased prices are the most important incentive to save gas,” said parliamentary group vice-chairman Lukas Köhler of the editorial network Germany according to a preliminary report.
“However, anyone who receives unemployment benefit II does not have this incentive, since the costs are usually fully borne by the job center,” he adds. “In order to change that, I propose that the ALG II recipients receive a financial share in the saved heating costs in the future.” Anyone who uses less gas than in previous years would receive a large part of the heating costs saved as a result. That might be 80 percent, for example. “In this way, economical heating would not only have an impact on gas consumption, but also directly on the accounts of ALG II recipients.”
00:13 – Two Russians sanctioned for meddling in US elections
The US has sanctioned two Russians for attempted rigging of US elections. The two Russian nationals have performed various roles in Russia’s attempts to “manipulate and destabilize the United States and its allies and partners, including Ukraine,” the Treasury Department said in a statement released on Friday in Washington.
Alexander Ionov and Natalia Burlinova are accused of interfering in US elections, spreading false information and financing pro-Russian propaganda. “Free and fair elections are a cornerstone of American democracy, which must be protected from any outside influence,” said Treasury Secretary Brian Nelson.
