Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 29, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleOil prices surged over 3% due to US-Russia tensions and trade deal optimism, with Trump threatening tariffs on Russia and US-China talks ongoing.
By Nicole Jao
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices gained more than 3% on Tuesday as President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on Russia over its war in Ukraine and on optimism that a trade war between the U.S. and its major trading partners was abating.
Brent crude futures settled $2.47, or 3.53%, higher at $72.51 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained $2.50, or 3.75%, to settle at $69.21. Both contracts settled at their highest since June 20.
On Tuesday, Trump said he would start imposing tariffs and other measures on Russia "10 days from today" if Moscow did not make progress toward ending the war in Ukraine.
"We've amped it up. We have a hard deadline of 10 days," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group. "And there's a suggestion that other countries are going to join us."
Also on Tuesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he had told Chinese officials that, given U.S. secondary tariff legislation on sanctioned Russian oil, China could face high tariffs if Beijing continued its Russian oil purchases.
Bessent was speaking after two days of bilateral talks aimed at resolving longstanding economic disputes and stepping back from an escalating trade war between the world's two biggest economies.
Also supporting oil prices, the trade agreement between the U.S. and the European Union, while imposing a 15% import tariff on most EU goods, sidestepped a full-blown trade war between the two major allies that would have rippled across nearly a third of global trade and dimmed the outlook for fuel demand.
"There is definitely some optimism around the trade deals," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho. "It's not perfect, especially for the Europeans, but it is better than it could have been by a long shot."
The agreement also calls for $750 billion of EU purchases of U.S. energy over the next three years, which analysts say the bloc has virtually no chance of meeting, while European companies are to invest $600 billion in the U.S. over Trump's term.
Market participants also await the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady but could signal a dovish tilt due to signs of cooling inflation, said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at brokerage Phillip Nova.
(Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar in London, Anjana Anil in Bengaluru and Emily Chow in Singapore Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Rod Nickel and David Gregorio)
Oil prices gained more than 3% due to US pressure on Russia over its war in Ukraine and optimism surrounding a trade deal.
President Trump stated he would impose tariffs and other measures on Russia in 10 days if there was no progress in ending the war in Ukraine.
The trade agreement includes a 15% import tariff on most EU goods and aims for $750 billion in EU purchases of US energy over three years.
Market participants are awaiting the outcome of the Federal Reserve policy meeting, expecting rates to remain steady but possibly signaling a dovish tilt.
Analysts believe the EU has virtually no chance of meeting the $750 billion commitment for US energy purchases outlined in the trade agreement.
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