Oil prices slipped on Monday as the U.S. did not exert more pressure on Russia to end the Ukraine war by implementing further measures to disrupt Russian oil exports after the presidents from both countries met on Friday.
Brent crude futures dropped 26 cents, or 0.39 per cent , to $65.59 a barrel by 0028 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $62.62 a barrel, down 18 cents, or 0.29 per cent .
U.S. President Donald Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday and emerged more aligned with Moscow on seeking a peace deal instead of a ceasefire first.
Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders on Monday to strike a quick peace deal to end Europe’s deadliest war in 80 years.
The U.S. president said on Friday he did not immediately need to consider retaliatory tariffs on countries such as China for buying Russian oil but might have to “in two or three weeks”, cooling concerns about a disruption in Russian supply.
China, the world’s biggest oil importer is the largest Russian oil buyer followed by India.
“What was primarily in play were the secondary tariffs targeting the key importers of Russian energy, and President Trump has indeed indicated that he will pause pursuing incremental action on this front, at least for China,” RBC Capital analyst Helima Croft said in a note.
“The status quo remains largely intact for now,” Croft said, adding that Moscow will not walk back on territorial demands while Ukraine and some European leaders will balk at the land-for-peace deal.
Investors are also watching Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments at the Jackson Hole meeting this week to search for clues on the path of interest rate cuts that could boost stocks to more record highs.
“It’s likely he will remain non-committal and data-dependent, especially with one more payroll and CPI (Consumer Price Index) report before the September 17th FOMC meeting,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note.
