(Combo) This photo combination, created on February 21, 2020, shows President Donald Trump made his remarks at Keep America Great Rally held in Phoenix, Arizona on February 19, 2020.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
The rift between Moscow and Washington appears to be set deeper after Russia’s economy says it “stinks” and lower oil prices will attack President Vladimir Putin’s oil-funded war machinery.
“Putin will stop killing people when the energy reaches another $10 barrel. His economy will stink so he won’t have a choice,” the president told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” on tuesday.
Comments come after the relationship between Moscow and Washington. This has remained sincere at the start of Trump’s second term despite the ongoing war, which has worsened over the last few weeks.
Trump appeared to have lost Putin’s patience given Russia’s resistance to pursuing a ceasefire or peace deal with Ukraine. Last Monday, the president said that in less than 50 days to less than two weeks, Putin is cutting deadlines for reaching a peace deal with Ukraine or facing major “secondary tariffs” on Moscow’s trading partners.
It urged former Russian president and senior Russian official Dmitry Medvedev on social media to respond on social media that forcing Trump to end the war with Ukraine was a “threatening and a step towards war.”
“Not between Russia and Ukraine, but between its own country,” Medvedev wrote in X. Trump said on Friday in response to Medvedev’s comments that he “ordered the right area to be located in the ‘right area’.”
Russia, one of the world’s top oil exporters, uses revenues from oil exports to fund Ukrainian war machinery that invaded in 2022. While Ukraine’s western partners are trying to use sanctions and restrictions to curb those revenues, countries like India and China continue to discount Russian fraud.
This has infuriated Trump, and he has threatened India with sudden tariffs in recent days if he doesn’t stop buying Russia’s oil. Last week, the president threatened an unspecified “penalty” on India’s exports, threatening a 25% obligation and an unspecified “penalty” to New Delhi, accusing him of purchasing discounted Russian oil and “selling it in the open market for great profits.”
On Tuesday, Trump told CNBC that tariff thresholds could exceed 25% in the next 24 hours.
“India was not a good trading partner, so… we settled at 25%, but as we are buying Russian oil, I think we are trying to grow it very effectively over the next 24 hours. They are fueling the war machinery.
Russia was heavily on spat early on Tuesday, with the Kremlin saying India could freely choose its own trading partner and that Trump’s tariff threat was “an attempt to force the country to halt trade relations with Russia.”
“We do not believe that such a statement is legal,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov continued, speaking with reporters on Tuesday.
“Sovereign countries should have the right to choose their own trading partner, their trade and economic cooperation partner, and they believe they have the right to choose trade and economic cooperation regimes for the interests of certain countries.”
Oil prices fell to mid-$65 on Tuesday as traders evaluated the announcement by OPEC and its oil production allies on Sunday, and traders evaluated announcements by OPEC and its oil production allies amid a weak global demand.
After Trump’s comments on Tuesday, Brent crude futures fell by 83 cents (1.2%) to $67.92 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas intermediate crude slipped 87 cents to $65.41.
Meanwhile, when it comes to the economy focused on Russia’s war, dark clouds appear to be gathering on the horizon. It has worked under the weight of international sanctions and the pressures of its own country. This is mainly due to war, including ramp-prolonged inflation and high food and production costs that President Putin described as “uneasy.” Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development also predicts economic growth will fall from 4.3% in 2024 to 2.5% this year.
