Kremlin says no talks with Saudi Arabia happened, after Trump’s tweets claim Moscow and Riyadh will cut oil production

US President Donald Trump has said he expects that Russia and Saudi Arabia could drastically curtail their oil output after a conversation between the two nations’ leaders. Moscow denies that any talks took place at all.

LATEST: Trump doubles down on ‘hopes’ that Russia & Saudi Arabia will agree on oil production

Trump took to Twitter on Thursday to relay some “great” news for the oil and gas industry, as he expressed his hopes for some supposedly upcoming cuts in crude oil production by Saudi Arabia and Russia which could reverse the current plunge in oil prices. According to the president, oil production could be scaled back by as many as 10 million barrels in total – or even “substantially more.”

In his statement, Trump referred to his conversation with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who he said had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin. This statement seems somewhat bizarre, since Moscow has confirmed that the talks never occurred, nor are there any plans to cut production.

“No, there was no such conversation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s Interfax news agency when asked about Putin’s supposed talks with the Saudi crown prince. Moscow said earlier that no talks between the two nations have been held since the strife between Russia and the OPEC members earlier in March, which was described as an oil price war between Moscow and Riyadh.

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