Putin responded to Trump's threats to lower oil prices.

If U.S. President Donald Trump follows through on his promise to lower oil prices, it will primarily harm the American economy, stated Russian dictator Putin during a broadcast on the "Russia 1" channel, commenting on Trump's statement.

He declared that both Russia and the U.S. are not only the largest oil producers but also the largest consumers of oil.

“Thus, excessively high prices are detrimental for both our economy and the American one because production must occur domestically, utilizing energy resources, and other goods need to be produced within the country. Extremely low prices are also very harmful, as they undermine the investment opportunities of energy companies,” Putin stated.

He added that Trump is a “smart and pragmatic” person.

“I doubt he will make decisions that would harm the American economy,” Putin said.

Regarding plans to collapse global oil prices to end the war in Ukraine, Trump mentioned this in a speech to participants at the World Economic Forum in Davos the day before.

According to him, the U.S. intends to approach Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries with a request to lower prices.

“We can end this war by reducing oil prices. It is irresponsible that this hasn’t been done yet. We will lower oil prices, and Russia will immediately stop the war with Ukraine,” Trump stated.

Trump's transition team leader Robert Wilkie previously threatened the Kremlin with a drop in oil prices to $40 and below if Putin does not agree to a deal regarding Ukraine. Wilkie noted that such a price drop would “put incredible pressure on Russia’s military economy” and “bankrupt” it.

During the election campaign, Trump announced a large-scale expansion of oil and gas production in the U.S. under the slogan “Drill, baby, drill!” He promised that oil production in the country would increase by 15%, or 3 million barrels per day.

Background. To learn about the likely position of OPEC regarding Trump’s proposal, read the Mind article “Cheap oil to end the war: how viable are Trump’s plans.”