The largest German business daily draws attention to the pressure on Saudi Arabia announced by Donald Trump in Davos in order to encourage it to increase oil production. This postulate is dictated by foreign policy considerations, says author Moritz Koch.
Cheap oil will force Putin to negotiate. “It's time”
“Trump is not just about cheaper fuel for American drivers. He sees the low oil price as a strategic instrument through which he will force Vladimir Putin for negotiations” – writes a journalist of “Handelsblatt”. – When the price (of oil) drops, the Russian-Ukrainian war will end immediately – Trump declared in Davos. “Handelsblatt” assessed that destroying the economic foundations of the Russian war machine by flooding the markets with cheap oil is a “wise move” if implemented consistently.
So far, attempts to eliminate the financial sources of war have failed – the system sanctions it's full of holes. Russia is circumventing sanctions imposed by the G7 countries with a fleet of foreign-flagged tankers. “It's time for a new approach,” we read in “Handelsblatt.” “It could be possible to defeat Putin with his own weapons,” the author adds.
A repeat of the 1980s: “Cheap oil is harmful”
Koch recalled that the decline was steady prices oil in 1980-1988 was one of the factors that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. “Cheap oil harms the climate, but it harms the petro-autocrat Putin even more, and that is good for Europe.”
By the way, Koch appeals to EU countries to finally stop importing liquefied gas from Russia. “It is a shame that three years after the aggression against Ukraine, European money is still flowing into the Kremlin's coffers.” Increasing gas imports from USA would reduce the danger of Trump's trade war against the EU, writes Koch in “Handelsblatt”.