Saudi energy minister rejects Russian comments about kingdom's withdrawal from OPEC+ deal

Says Russia first to declare all participants absolved from commitments

CAIRO: The Saudi energy minister on Saturday rejected Russia’s remarks that the kingdom withdrew last month from a deal to cut output.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman was responding to comments made by his Russian counterpart on Friday, according to a statement carried by Saudi state news agency SPA.

“The Russian Minister of Energy was the first to declare to the media that all the participating countries are absolved of their commitments starting from the first of April, leading to the decision that the countries have taken to raise their production to offset the lower prices and compensate for their loss of returns,” Prince Abdulaziz said in a statement.