US President Donald Trump has asked the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut the prices of oil, arguing that it would stop the Russia-Ukraine war. He had made a similar claim earlier, too. Addressing the annual World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland via video conference, Trump accused the OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries of being responsible for the nearly three-year conflict in Ukraine.
"We want to see OPEC cut the price of oil. That will automatically stop the tragedy that's taking place in Ukraine. It's a butchering tragedy for both sides," the US President told reporters in North Carolina on Friday (January 25).
Noting that a large number of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have died in the conflict so far, Trump said, "Right now, it's just bullets whacking and hitting men. There are over a million men killed, and they are losing thousands of people a week."
"It's crazy. It's a crazy war and it never would have happened if I was president (then). This is crazy that it happened, but we want to stop it."
"One way to stop it quickly is for OPEC to stop making so much money and to drop the price of oil. If you have it high, that war is not going to end so easily. So, OPEC ought to get on the ball and they ought to drop the price of oil. And the war will stop right away," Trump added.
He warned his Russian counterpart to end the "ridiculous war" in Ukraine or face high tariffs and further sanctions. Trump, who was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on January 20, said this on Truth Social, a social media platform owned by him.
Vladimir Putin echoes Trump's claim that conflict in Ukraine could have been avoided had he been in office
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday echoed US President Donald Trump's claim the conflict in Ukraine could have been prevented had he been in the White House in 2022. He also said Moscow is ready for talks with the US on a broad range of issues. In an interview with Russian state television, Putin praised Trump as a “clever and pragmatic man” who is focused on US interests.
“We always had a business-like, pragmatic but also trusting relationship with the current US president,” Putin said. “I couldn't disagree with him that if he had been president, if they hadn't stolen victory from him in 2020, the crisis that emerged in Ukraine in 2022 could have been avoided." Putin's statement was his bluntest endorsement yet of Trump's refusal to accept his defeat in the 2020 election.
Trump also has said repeatedly he wouldn't have allowed the conflict to start if he had been in office, even though he was president as fighting grew in the east of the country between Kyiv's forces and separatists aligned with Moscow, ahead of Putin sending in tens of thousands of troops in 2022. On Thursday, Trump told Fox News that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should have made a deal with Putin to avoid the conflict.
Putin emphasised Friday that he's open to talks but pointed to Zelenskyy's 2022 decision to rule out negotiations with Moscow. “How is it possible to conduct talks if they are banned?” Putin said. “If the talks start in the existing legal framework, they would be illegitimate and the results of those talks could also be declared illegitimate.” He also said the US and Russia have many other items on their agenda, including nuclear arms control and economic issues.
“We can have quite a lot of points of contact with the current administration and search for solutions to key issues of today,” Putin said. He said the sanctions against Russia introduced during Trump's first term and under Joe Biden's administration had hurt US interests, undermining the dollar's role in global financial system.
Putin described Trump as "not only clever, but a pragmatic man," adding. “I find it hard to imagine that he would make decisions that would hurt the American economy.”
“We'd better meet and have a calm conversation on all issues of interest to both the United States and Russia based on today's realities,” Putin said.
He noted that as top oil producers and major industrial powers, Russia and the US aren't interested in global oil prices being either too low or too high. “We have things to talk about,” Putin said.
(With AP inputs)