Russia ready to freeze oil production at current level

"As for the upcoming OPEC meeting and our stance, it has not changed. We said numerous times we are ready to freeze production at the level it is at right now. We do not expect our energy sector to take any damage from this," Putin told reporters.

"The energy minister maintains contacts with leading [energy] companies and they are ready to work in this direction," he added.

Putin said he could not say for sure if the OPEC cartel of oil producers would finalize the deal on curbing oil output, but added the outlooks were positive.

"There is a big chance that the [agreement] will be reached, because it seems to me that the main differences inside the OPEC can be resolved – if they haven’t been resolved yet – because there are no acute problems left on the table," he said.