The Kremlin insisted Friday that a settlement in Ukraine couldn’t be facilitated by a drop in global oil prices as U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested.

Speaking by video from the White House to the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said on Thursday that the OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries shares responsibility for the nearly three-year conflict in Ukraine because it has kept oil prices too high.

“If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately,” Trump said. Energy sales form a large part of Russia’s earnings.

Asked about Trump’s comments, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov affirmed Moscow’s view that the Ukrainian conflict was triggered by the West’s refusal to take into account Russian security interests.

“The conflict doesn’t depend on oil prices,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. “The conflict is ongoing because of the threat to Russia’s national security, the threat to Russians living on those territories and the refusal by the Americans and the Europeans to listen to Russia’s security concerns. It’s not linked to oil prices.”

He said Russian President Vladimir Putin remains ready for contacts with Trump.

Peskov’s comments echoed Putin’s statements that he had to send troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to fend off a threat to Russia’s security resulting from plans for Ukraine to join NATO and to protect Russian speakers living there. Ukraine and the West have denounced Moscow’s action as an unprovoked act of aggression.

Asked to comment on Trump’s claim that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is ready for a peace deal, Peskov pointed out the Ukrainian leader’s earlier decision to rule out any talks with Moscow.

“Zelenskyy can’t be ready for a deal,” Peskov told reporters, adding that “in order to reach a settlement it’s necessary to conduct talks, and Zelenskyy forbade himself to hold talks by his own decree.”

On Wednesday, Trump threatened to impose stiff taxes, tariffs and sanctions on Russia if an agreement isn’t reached to end the war in Ukraine.

Peskov said that the Kremlin was closely following Trump’s statements and noted that he imposed a slew of sanctions during his first term. He said Moscow “remains ready for an equal dialogue, for a mutually respectful dialogue.”

“This dialogue took place between the two presidents during Trump’s first presidency. And we are waiting for signals that we have not received yet,” Peskov said.

(AP)