Putin Says Global Energy Market Needs Russia-US-Saudi Talks

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Putin Says Global Energy Market Needs Russia-US-Saudi Talks

The global energy market needs trilateral discussions between Russia, the US and Saudi Arabia, said President Vladimir Putin. The comments follow the meeting between top officials from Washington and Moscow in Riyadh, a first round of talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine and deepening ties between Russia and the US. Both sides also […]

The global energy market needs trilateral discussions between Russia, the US and Saudi Arabia, said President Vladimir Putin.

The comments follow the meeting between top officials from Washington and Moscow in Riyadh, a first round of talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine and deepening ties between Russia and the US. Both sides also discussed economic issues, in particular energy, he said.

“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.”

Last time Putin spoke with the US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman was almost five years ago, when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies were struggling to agree on oil-production cuts as fuel demand slumped due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Repeating a theme of his first term, Trump last month urged the cartel to “cut the price of oil,” arguing a drop could starve Russia of revenue and halt Kremlin’s aggression against the Ukraine. Yet OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, is consider another delay in the revival of its production, currently scheduled for April, as oil prices remain too low for many of the alliance’s members.

Since then Putin and Trump had a phone call, resulting in the talks in Riyadh. The Russian leader said he plans to call the Saudi king and crown prince in the next couple of days to thank them personally not only for providing the venue for the negotiations with the US, but also for creating “a friendly atmosphere.”

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