“Russia’s Economy Stinks”: Drop In Energy Prices Will Make Putin “Stop Killing People”, Trump Says

“If energy goes down enough, Putin is going to stop killing people,” President Trump said in a fresh interview on CNBC Tuesday.

“Putin will stop killing people if we get energy down another $10 a barrel. He’ll have no choice because his economy stinks.” The stark comments come days ahead of the White House’s Friday August 8 deadline for President Putin to commit to peace in Ukraine.

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Trump in the media appearance put India on notice too, saying: “They’re buying Russian oil, they’re fueling the war machine. If they’re going to do that, then I’m not going to be happy.”

He pledged to soon raise tariffs on India “very substantially” over the ongoing Russian oil purchases. And yet these threats from Washington have so far failed to deter Russia, China, or India.

Commenting on increased production on the part of OPEC countries and others, Trump stipulated that he expected additional declines ahead – putting the squeeze further on Russia.

“If you notice OPEC and OPEC+, they’re drilling more because I think they want me happy,” Trump said further, after OPEC+ agreed over the weekend to raise oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September.

Here is China’s reaction to the secondary tariff and sanctions threats, issued yesterday:

“China will always ensure its energy supply in ways that serve our national interests,” China’s Foreign Ministry posted on X on Wednesday following two days of trade negotiations in Stockholm, responding to the U.S. threat of a 100% tariff.

“Coercion and pressuring will not achieve anything. China will firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests,” the ministry said.

President Trump:

“If energy goes down low enough, Putin’s going to stop killing people. If you get energy down another $10 a barrel, he’s going to have no choice, because his economy stinks.” pic.twitter.com/gWweMdMWrS

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 5, 2025

The US president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling to Russia this week, in what’s being described as a ‘last chance’ effort at jump-starting a path to peace in Ukraine and restoring bilateral US-Russia relations.

Trump told reporters on Sunday he wants a quick ceasefire deal “where people stop getting killed” – and after repeat Russian drone and missile attacks have unleashed large amounts of casualties in the Ukrainian capital and elsewhere.

Six months of Trump-led diplomatic efforts have passed, and still the warring sides are no closer to a lasting truce, which has proven elusive. But so far, there’s no evidence that Trump has put real pressure on Ukraine’s Zelensky to given up territory – which is probably the only concession significant enough to achieve ceasefire.