Oil prices were largely unchanged on Monday after a drop in early trade as the United States exerted no further pressure on Russia to end the Ukraine war through measures to disrupt its oil exports following a meeting of the leaders of both nations.

Brent crude futures dropped six cents, or 0.09 per cent, to $65.79 a barrel by 4:42 AM WAT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $62.82 a barrel, up two cents, or 0.03 per cent.

Reuters reported that investors are watching for clues from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments at this week’s Jackson Hole meeting regarding the path of interest rate cuts that could boost stocks to further records.

“It’s likely he will remain noncommittal and data-dependent, especially with one more payroll and Consumer Price Index (CPI) report before the September 17 FOMC meeting,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore told Reuters in a note.

US President Donald Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday and emerged more aligned with Moscow on seeking a peace deal instead of a ceasefire first.

Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders on Monday to strike a quick peace deal to end Europe’s deadliest war in 80 years.

On Friday, Trump said he did not immediately need to consider retaliatory tariffs on countries such as China for buying Russian oil but might have to “in two or three weeks”, calming concerns about a disruption in Russian supply.

China, the world’s biggest oil importer, is the largest buyer of Russian oil, followed by India.