On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said that he had agreed with Russia and Saudi Arabia to reduce oil production in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, oil prices jumped sharply, and later, Riyadh offered to hold an urgent meeting with OPEC+ countries to discuss a fair agreement on balancing the market.

Trump said that the two countries could cut production by 10-15 million barrels a day.

In a tweet, the US President wrote: "I expect and hope that the two countries will agree to cut supplies by 10 million barrels and possibly significantly more." His comment came as Saudi Arabia called an emergency meeting with oil producers.

Russia and Saudi Arabia have not yet started negotiations. Plans for such high-level talks are not scheduled for Thursday or Friday.

Although Saudi Arabia and Russia seem ready to sit down at the negotiating table, there has been no sign of a change in strategy so far. Saudi Arabia has ordered Saudi Aramco to prepare for a long fight, and Saudi Aramco has informed oilfield service contractors of its readiness to provide support as it seeks to keep production at a high level.

"Washington is aware that the path to an agreement runs through Moscow. Everyone knows that Saudi Arabia wants to meet Russia at the negotiating table, and they also understand that the US will have to participate in some way. But there are clear questions about what US participation will look like, " Helima Croft of RBC Capital Markets said.

Alexander Novak, Minister of Energy of Russia also said that his country could resume negotiations.

On Thursday, in an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio station, Novak addressed the White House saying, "We agreed to maintain constant contact and develop joint measures that will help stabilize the market in the near future."

Novak also said that he "does not rule out the option of negotiations" with Saudi Arabia. However, the drop in oil demand means that a reduction in supplies will not necessarily prevent further falls in oil prices.

Meanwhile, with all the pressure from Trump to reduce production, a senior US administration official said that Trump will not officially ask US oil companies to help reduce production as this is prohibited by US law.

Perhaps, Russia's decision to abandon its alliance with Saudi Arabia is partly aimed at harming US shale companies and the US economy as a whole, because in 2014, Washington targeted Russia's energy sector using sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Crimea.