The UK urged its Group of Seven allies to agree a cut to the price cap on Russian oil, saying the move is necessary to put further pressure on President Vladimir Putin to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Over the past few weeks, the Trump administration has attempted to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, offering a glimmer of hope that the 3-year war could soon come to an end. The U.S. has held separate meetings with Russian and Ukrainian delegations in a bid to reach a lasting deal, but one particular OPEC member is finding itself in the crosshairs of the conflict despite the ongoing peace negotiations.
Instead, it’s all about oil. Trump has always been in the pocket of the US oil industry, while Russia is the world’s third-largest producer of fossil fuels. Russia is also the largest block of land in the Arctic, and it is known to hold vast and mostly untapped mineral wealth.
Commenting on the possibility that Russia could mediate or help broker possible U.S. and Iran negotiations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to questions sent by Bloomberg that “Russia believes that the United States and Iran should resolve all problems through negotiations” and that Russia “is ready to do everything in its power to achieve this.”
“I still remember the conversation by phone between three of us: your humble servant, the US President Trump and the King of Saudi Arabia participated,” Putin told reporters on Wednesday in comments broadcast by state TV channel Rossiya 24. “The three of us talked on the phone and discussed the global energy market. Discussing these issues in such format is still in demand today.”
Both Russia and the US are top global oil producers and consumers, Putin said in an interview with state-owned Rossiya 24 TV. Price movements in the commodity impacts both economies, he said.
President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russian gas output rose by 8% in the first four months of the year to 246.4 bcm.
Russia is going to keep creating uncertainty over shipments of oil, gas and agricultural commodities onto world markets
MP Andrey Gurulyov said that Europe would ‘croak’ if Russia attacked its no.1 oil hub in the Netherlands.