UPDATE 1-Putin, Trump order their energy ministers to discuss oil - Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed oil and the spread of the coronavirus in a phone call on Monday, and ordered their energy ministries to hold further talks on global oil markets, the Kremlin said.

The Kremlin did not say what exactly the ministers would discuss, but Moscow has previously signalled it would like to see more countries joining efforts to balance global oil markets following the collapse of its deal with OPEC earlier this month. "Opinions on the current state of global oil markets were exchanged. It was agreed there would be Russo-American consultations about this through the ministers of energy," the Kremlin said in a readout of the call.

The Russian energy ministry declined to comment. OPEC and other leading oil producers including Russia failed to agree on further joint action on the global oil market and to extend their deal to cut output, leading to a sharp fall in oil prices that have also been battered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Ahead of the phone call on Monday, Trump said Saudi Arabia and Russia "both went crazy" in their oil-price war and that "I never thought I'd be saying that maybe we have to have an oil (price) increase, because we do." The Russian and U.S. presidents also agreed to continue their dialogue at a personal level, the Kremlin said.

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