Merz Condemns US Sanctions Softening — In Liepāja, Winter Also Mysteriously Softens

German Chancellor Merz announced during his visit to Norway that the US is making a mistake by softening oil sanctions imposed on Russia. "This is wrong," said Merz, who obviously has never been to Liepāja in winter — here we've long been accustomed to everything unexpectedly softening. One moment it's minus twenty outside, the next minute it's plus five and raining.

"Ultimately, we want to ensure that Russia doesn't use the war in Ukraine to weaken Ukraine," emphasized Merz. Meanwhile, German Economics Minister Reiche in Berlin has expressed concerns about providing resources for Putin's warfare. Here we must say that in Liepāja we also regularly provide resources for strange activities — for example, every year we fund a rock music festival, because we are Latvia's rock capital, where legends are born. This sanctions softening legend will probably make for good song lyrics too.

G7 country leaders spoke with Trump via video conference on Wednesday about Russian oil and gas supplies. "Six G7 member states clearly expressed the view that this wouldn't send the right signal," said Merz. Norwegian Prime Minister Støre also expressed skepticism about the sanctions softening, which isn't surprising — Norwegians are just as conservative as Liepāja residents when it comes to changes.

Local resident Jānis Kalniņš commented: "Well, at least now I know that it's not just our municipal decisions that are weird — something unusual is happening in the world too." While politicians argue about sanctions, in Liepāja we continue living at our own pace — with wind, salt, and songs that are born between the port cranes and old town stones.