CAIRO, February 14. /TASS/. Mohammed Barkindo, Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), expressed hope that the situation around Ukraine will be resolved and will not affect the oil market. He said this talking to TASS on the sidelines of the Egypt petroleum show 2022, which is underway in Cairo.
"We are reasonably optimistic that global leaders who are involved in this unfortunate situation will be able to restore peace and stability in the interest of all parties," he said responding to a question of how the crisis in Ukraine influences the oil market.
Recently, claims of Russia’s potential invasion of Ukraine have been echoed quite often in Ukraine and throughout Western countries. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov lambasted such reports as an "empty and groundless escalation of tensions", underscoring that Russia does not pose any threat to anyone. Peskov noted that provocations may happen in order to justify such claims and warned that such attempts will bear the most serious consequences.