MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Sunday, the participants in the meeting in the Qatari capital failed to reach an agreement on freezing oil output in a bid to stabilize global crude prices.
"I would like the people to not be charmed or disillusioned [over the failed agreement]. We had no illusions over the ability of the partners to reach consensus," Leontyev told RIA Novosti.
Oil prices have plunged more than 60 percent from their peak of $110 per barrel in June 2014 amid fears that global oil production is outpacing demand.
In February, the energy ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Venezuela, and Russia discussed the current oil market situation in Doha and agreed to freeze oil production at January levels if other countries followed suit, in a bid to keep oil prices from falling further.
