WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said declining energy prices could pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt the war in Ukraine.
“If energy goes down enough, Putin is going to stop killing people,” Trump said in an interview on CNBC. “If you get energy down, another $10 a barrel, he’s going to have no choice because his economy stinks.”
Trump last week set a deadline for August 8 for Putin to move to end the war in Ukraine or face tougher U.S. sanctions. His administration has also been pressuring India and China to stop buying Russian oil.
Trump told CNBC that the drop in energy prices was due to increased production, including by the OPEC countries and others, and he expected further declines.
“If you notice OPEC and OPEC+, they’re drilling more because I think they want me happy,” he said.
OPEC+ agreed on Sunday to raise oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September, the latest in a series of accelerated output hikes to regain market share, as concerns mount over potential supply disruptions linked to Russia.
The move marks a full and early reversal of OPEC+’s largest tranche of output cuts plus a separate increase in output for the United Arab Emirates amounting to about 2.5 million bpd, or about 2.4% of world demand.
Eight OPEC+ members held a brief virtual meeting, amid increasing U.S. pressure on India to halt Russian oil purchases – part of Washington’s efforts to bring Moscow to the negotiating table for a peace deal with Ukraine.
The International Monetary Fund last week slashed its forecast for Russian economic growth to 0.9% for this year, from its previous forecast in April of 1.5% growth.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Giles Elgood)
