Putin, Trump discuss oil market, agree energy ministers to hold further consultations: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation on global oil markets with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, Monday, according to a statement issued by the Kremlin press service.

"There was an exchange of views on the current state of the world oil market, and it was agreed that Russian-American consultations should be held on this subject by energy ministers," the statement said.

Putin and Trump discussed the oil market at a time when prices continue to tumble due to the collapse of the OPEC+ crude production cut agreement, and the major economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The energy relationship between the two major oil producers has also become increasingly tense in recent months. Trump has criticized Russia and its OPEC+ partner Saudi Arabia for allowing the output agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC producers to collapse, causing instability in the oil market.

Earlier this year the US also increased sanctions on Russia's leading crude producer, Rosneft, over its trading with Venezuela. On Saturday, Rosneft announced it was leaving the Venezuelan market, selling its assets there to a Russian government-owned entity. Analysts see this as a bid to protect against future sanctions and encourage the US to remove those already imposed on Rosneft for its activities in Venezuela. So far, the US has not announced any changes to sanctions against Rosneft.