Putin will stop killing people if oil drops another $10 per barrel, Trump says

US President Donald Trump said that falling energy prices could force Russia to make peace.

He said this on Tuesday, August 5, in an interview with CNBC, LIGA.net writes.

“If you notice, OPEC and OPEC+ are increasing production. They want to produce even more because, I think, they want to make me happy, because if energy prices fall enough, Putin will stop killing people. That would be great. Because his own people are dying, and Ukrainians. But Putin will stop killing people if energy prices fall another $10 per barrel. He will have no choice, because his economy is bad,” Donald Trump said.

According to Reuters, as of August 5, 2025, Brent crude is trading below $68 per barrel. The price of U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 12 cents, or 0.18%, to $66.17 a barrel.

This was the fourth consecutive decline for both contracts, which fell more than 1% in the previous session, reaching a weekly low.

Both benchmarks fell in price as additional OPEC+ capacity acts as a buffer for a possible shortage of Russian barrels, said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova.

The increase in supply is accompanied by concerns about demand, with some analysts expecting economic growth to slow in the second half of the year.

At the same time, Bloomberg notes that oil revenues to the Russian state budget have fallen by a third compared to July last year due to a drop in global crude prices and a rise in the national currency.

Last month, combined oil and gas revenues amounted to 787.3 billion rubles, down 27% from the same period last year.

Read also: About 70% of ships transporting Russian oil pass through the Baltic Sea.