Market awaits Russia-US summit, European natural gas prices slightly drop.

Market participants are waiting for a meeting between the leaders of the United States and Russia, which could determine the future direction of energy trade policies. European natural gas benchmark futures prices fell slightly on Friday, with a small decline expected for the week. The futures prices have been fluctuating within a narrow range of 32 euros to 35 euros per megawatt-hour since July. It is reported that US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to hold a meeting in the coming days, with the exact location yet to be announced. Trump has expressed willingness to meet with Putin, even though Putin has not agreed to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, leading to increased expectations for the US-Russia summit in the market. European natural gas prices are expected to decline on a weekly basis. Since Trump's return to the White House, Putin has still refused to accept a ceasefire agreement, which has angered Trump, leading him to threaten to impose secondary sanctions on countries purchasing Russian energy. Trump announced on Wednesday that tariffs on India will be doubled to 50% in response to the country's imports of oil from Russia, with further sanctions possibly being implemented as early as Friday. Given the competition in the natural gas market between Europe and other major buyers, Trump's actions could exacerbate global supply tensions, while Europe is still actively purchasing natural gas to prepare for winter. As of the time of writing, European natural gas benchmark futures prices have fallen slightly to 32.77 euros per megawatt-hour.