Russia said to see Saudi Arabia's oil plan as blackmail, will not back down

Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the government's position

The report says that Putin will refuse to submit to what the Kremlin sees as oil blackmail from Saudi Arabia, and won't be the first party to blink to seek a truce between both sides.

Adding that the Russian government has spent years building reserves for this kind of crisis. The sources also say that Russia did not expect the Saudis to trigger a price war but they are confident that they can hold out longer than Riyadh if needed.

I would say that it may be a matter of time before both sides will have to return back to the negotiating table but so far, they are hardening their resolve as we are still in the early stages of the fight and nobody appears to be worn out just yet.

Oil prices are not blinking on the headlines here but expect the backdrop of this to keep a lid on any gains. It is hard to see oil chasing sustainable gains above $30 so long as the price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia continues - not to mention the global lockdown.