U.S. President Donald Trump has stated that the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine would come to an immediate halt if Saudi Arabia and the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reduce oil prices.
Trump made the remark virtually addressing the World Economic Forum which is being held in Davos, Switzerland.
“I am also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil. You have to bring it down which, frankly, I am surprised they didn’t do before the election. That didn’t show a lot of love by them not doing it. I was a little surprised by that. If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately,” Trump said.
“Right now, the price is high enough that the Russia-Ukraine war will continue,” Trump said. “You have to bring down the oil price, you have to end the war. They should have done it long ago.”
“They are very responsible, to a certain extent, for what’s taking place. Millions of lives are being lost. With oil prices going down, I’ll demand that interest rates drop immediately and likewise they should be dropping all over the world,” he added.
Trump Threatens Russia With Tariffs
Trump on Wednesday warned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of tariff hikes and more sanctions if he fails to strike a deal to end the Ukraine war “now”.
“If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
Trump said he was “not looking to hurt Russia” and had “always had a very good relationship with President Putin”.
“All of that being said, I’m going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR. Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE,” he said.
More Russian Sanctions Likely
Trump took a harder line in his post than he had during a White House press conference on Tuesday when he said it “sounds likely” that he would apply additional sanctions if Putin did not come to the table.
Earlier, Trump had taken credit for the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas and had mocked his predecessor Joe Biden for claiming its administration helped to end the war.
“Perhaps most beautiful of all this week we achieved an epic ceasefire agreement as a first step towards lasting peace in the Middle East and this agreement could only have happened as a result of our historic victory in November,” Trump said.
“Our incoming administration has achieved all of this in the Middle East in less than three months without being president. We’ve achieved more without being president than they’ve achieved in four years with being president,” he added.
(With inputs from IBNS)
