Trump says Putin will stop killing if oil prices fall by US$10 per barrel

US President Donald Trump has claimed that lower energy prices could influence Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and force him to end the war against Ukraine.

The US president believes that lowering oil prices is enough to force Putin to end the war.

"If energy goes down enough, Putin is going to stop killing people.

If you get energy down, another US$10 a barrel, he's going to have no choice because his economy stinks," Trump said in an interview with CNBC.

On 18 July, the EU approved the long-awaited 18th package of EU sanctions against Russia, which had been delayed due to opposition from Slovakia and Malta.

The package contains sanctions against 26 more companies for circumventing sanctions, including 11 outside Russia – seven companies in China (three in Hong Kong) and four in Türkiye.

The package imposes sanctions on 105 vessels from Russia’s shadow fleet, lowers the price cap on Russian oil and targets banks and companies outside Russia that support its war effort.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said at the time that imposing sanctions on Russian oil to end the war in Ukraine was a "very real possibility".