President Donald Trump said he may discuss reducing Chinese purchases of Russian oil with Xi Jinping after the U.S. imposed sanctions on two major oil companies, and expressed hope for a “comprehensive agreement.”
“I think we have a very good chance of having a really comprehensive deal,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Washington imposed new sanctions against Russia on 22 October, specifically against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil.
“I may be debating this, but you know China – you must have seen today – China is cutting back very significantly on its purchases of Russian oil and India is cutting back completely, and we’ve imposed sanctions,” Trump said.
The confrontation between the U.S. and China over trade, technology and restrictions on raw materials has raised the stakes for Trump’s trip to Asia. Trump and Xi plan to meet during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea.
The meeting will be the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies since Trump returned to the White House in January. The two have communicated at least three times this year.