Russia's President Vladimir Putin
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the United States was manipulating facts in order to falsely accuse Russia of violating the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces arms control treaty and create a pretext to leave it.
The United States delivered Russia a 60-day ultimatum on Tuesday to come clean about what Washington says is a violation of a 1987 nuclear arms control treaty, saying it would be forced to start a six-month process of withdrawal if nothing changed.
When asked about the ultimatum, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said statements from the United States and NATO were whipping up tensions.
Saudi Arabia is seeking to persuade Russia on Wednesday to cut oil production substantially with OPEC next year in an attempt to arrest a decline in the price of crude and prevent another global glut.Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak was due later in the day to meet his Saudi counterpart Khalid al-Falih, whose country leads the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.OPEC holds policy talks on Thursday in Vienna, followed by a gathering with allies including Russia on Friday.Saudi Arabia has indicated it wants OPEC and its allies to cut output by at least 1.3 million barrels per day, or 1.3 percent of global production.Experts say Morocco exclusion reflects ‘crisis’ with SaudiRiyadh wants Moscow to contribute at least 250,000-300,000 bpd to the cut but Russia insists the amount should be only half of that, OPEC and non-OPEC sources said."It is not easy but we will always work together with our colleagues," United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui told reporters when asked about Russia's position.A source close to the Russian Energy Ministry said: "No one is eager to cut unless there is an emergency. It is the United States where we are seeing the bulk of the increase in oil output. OPEC and Russia will be very careful about voluntary 'blood letting'."Istanbul prosecutor seeks arrest of Saudi officials over Khashoggi killingRussia, Saudi Arabia and the United States have been vying for the position of top crude producer in recent years. The United States is not part of any output-limiting initiative due to its strict anti-trust legislation and fragmented oil industry.Crude prices have sunk since October due to global economic weakness and fears of a glut due largely to rising U.S. production.Russia says US has shown no evidence it is in breach of nuclear treaty
Saudi Arabia works on convincing Russia to join oil cuts
Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday the United States had yet to provide any evidence Moscow was in breach of a landmark arms control treaty, but said it was ready to keep discussing the matter with Washington.The United States delivered Russia a 60-day ultimatum on Tuesday to come clean about what Washington says is a violation of a 1987 nuclear arms control treaty, saying it would be forced to start a six-month process of withdrawal if nothing changed.Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry, told a briefing that the U.S. embassy in Moscow had handed over a note on Tuesday evening saying Washington would quit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty unless Russia began complying with it."These documents were received for further processing," said Zakharova. "In them once again there were groundless allegations about our alleged violation of this agreement. We have repeatedly said that this is conjecture. No proof (of our alleged violation) has been presented to us." 
Russia says US has shown no evidence it is in breach of nuclear treaty