"It would be great for Russia, it would be great for Saudi Arabia … hopefully they announce something soon. I hope they can make a deal, they both want to make a deal," Trump told reporters at the White House. "They both love their countries."
Since early March, global petroleum prices have spiraled downward amid an inability of Moscow and Riyadh to agree on oil production levels as the global economy has ground to a halt. However, after Trump expressed his support for a resolution to the conflict, oil prices spiked 20% from their historic lows on Thursday.
There are few signs this resolution will come soon, though. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday there were no talks scheduled as of yet, although he noted that Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed the subject in a recent phone call.
"Nobody is happy with this situation," Peskov noted.
When a White House reporter asked Trump on Thursday whether he had been forced to make concessions on oil prices to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto leader, Trump said, "we didn't discuss that."
