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Trump claims that a drop in energy costs will cause Putin to halt killing people

U.S. president Donald Trump said on Tuesday that declining energy prices may pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into ending the war in Ukraine.

Trump stated in an interview with CNBC that if energy prices drop enough, Putin will stop killing people. "If you can get energy down another $10 per barrel, his economy will be in ruins."

Last week, Trump gave Putin until August 8 to take action to end the conflict in Ukraine. If he fails to do so, he will face harsher U.S. sanction. His administration has also pressed India and China into stopping the purchase of Russian oil.

Trump told CNBC the fall in energy prices is due to an increase in production by OPEC and other countries, and he expects further drops.

He said, "If you look at OPEC or OPEC+ they are drilling more. I believe they want to make me happy."

OPEC+ reached an agreement on Sunday

The company will increase oil production by 547,000 barges per day in September. This is the latest of several accelerated output increases to gain market share as concerns grow over possible supply disruptions related to Russia.

This move represents a complete and early reversal in OPEC+’s largest batch of output cuts, plus a separate rise in production for the United Arab Emirates of about 2.5 million bpd or around 2.4% of global demand.

Eight OPEC+ member countries held a short virtual meeting amid increased U.S. pressure to India to stop Russian oil purchases – part of Washington’s efforts to get Moscow to the negotiating tables for a peace agreement with Ukraine.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week reduced its projection for Russian economic growth from 1.5% in April to just 0.9% this year.

(source: Reuters)