‘His Economy Stinks’: Trump Says Falling Oil Prices Will Force Putin to End Ukraine War

Falling oil prices would ultimately force Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his war in Ukraine, Donald Trump has said, adding that Russia’s economy already “stinks.”

The U.S. president, who has made ending the war in Ukraine a top priority since returning to office this year, has recently expressed growing impatience with Putin.

Last month, Trump set a 50-day deadline for Russia to make progress in negotiations, threatening 100% tariffs on U.S. imports from countries that continue buying Russian oil unless Moscow reaches a peace deal with Ukraine.He later shortened that deadline to just 10 days, effectively giving Russia until August 8 to take serious steps to end the three-year-long conflict. That deadline expires on Friday.

Trump has repeatedly warned of steep consequences if Moscow fails to comply. Last week, he announced new sanctions, including secondary tariffs targeting Russia’s trading partners, which would take effect within ten days unless the Kremlin halted the war.

These measures are part of Trump’s strategy to pressure Russia economically and hasten an end to the conflict.‘He’s going to have no choice’Speaking to U.S. broadcaster CNBC on Tuesday, Trump said a further drop in oil prices would cripple Russia’s oil-funded war machine.“Putin will stop killing people if you get energy down another $10 a barrel. He’s going to have no choice because his economy stinks,” Trump said.

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In an interview with Kyiv Post, Russian regional activist Daniil Chebykin said the war in Ukraine is reshaping life across Russia, far from the front lines. He described growing restrictions, declining access to independent information, and a major increase in desertion. Chebykin also warned that Moscow’s rhetoric toward neighboring countries, including Armenia, reflects broader concerns over influence and control.

Also on Tuesday, the Russian Finance Ministry reported that Moscow’s oil and gas revenues fell sharply for the third consecutive month in July, driven by weaker oil prices.

Russia, one of the world’s top oil exporters, has used revenues from energy exports to largely finance its war effort in Ukraine, which it invaded in 2022. Western sanctions have aimed to choke off those revenues, but countries like India and China continue to buy discounted Russian crude.

It has angered Trump, who recently threatened India with steep tariffs if it does not stop purchasing Russian oil. Last week, he proposed a 25% duty on Indian exports. On Tuesday, Trump told CNBC that he might raise the tariff rate above 25% within 24 hours.“India has not been a good trading partner … so we settled on 25%, but I think I’m going to raise that very substantially over the next 24 hours, because they’re buying Russian oil, they’re fueling the war machine, and if they’re going to do that, I’m not going to be happy,” he said.

Targeting Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’On Tuesday, the Financial Times reported that Washington is considering additional sanctions on Russia’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire by Friday.

Moscow has used “shadow fleet,” a flotilla of unregistered and aging oil tankers, to evade western sanctions imposed in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Blacklisting ships from the fleet would mark the first time the U.S. has imposed restrictions on Moscow since Trump’s return to the White House in January.

Putin remains undeterredMeanwhile, sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters on Tuesday that Putin is unlikely to bow to Trump’s sanctions ultimatum and retains the goal of capturing four regions of Ukraine in their entirety.

They added that Putin’s goal is to fully capture the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, which Russia has claimed as its own, and discuss a potential peace agreement.

The Russian leader’s determination to fight on is prompted by his belief that his country is winning and by skepticism that yet more U.S. sanctions will have much of an impact after successive waves of economic penalties during 3-1/2 years of war, the sources said.

Diplomatic strain

However, Trump’s actions are likely to escalate the diplomatic rift between Moscow and Washington, which has deepened in recent weeks despite the U.S. president beginning his second term on relatively cordial terms with Russia.

On Friday, Trump said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be moved to the “appropriate regions” in response to remarks from former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev about the risk of war between the two nuclear-armed adversaries.

Responding to Trump’s move, the Kremlin said on Monday that everyone should be “very, very careful” about nuclear rhetoric.

Kyiv has welcomed Trump’s tough stance on Moscow, seeing it as a sign of a shift in Washington’s policy toward the war as Russia continues its deadly strikes across Ukraine.