The US government accused the Saudis of kowtowing to Russia - as it wages the war in Ukraine - when the OPEC+ oil producer group it leads announced this month it would cut its oil production target.
NEW TROOPS TAKE CASUALTIES
A Western official said some of the newly mobilized Russian troops were already on the battlefield taking casualties, and that their presence was unlikely to turn the tide. "It is clear that they have been fielded with very, very limited training and very, very poor equipment," the official said.
The official also suggested Russia had too few missiles to sustain attacks like those this week: "Russia is rapidly exhausting its supply of long-range precision munitions, in particular its air-launched cruise missiles."
Ukraine's top general, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, struck an upbeat tone after his country's rapid advances in the northeast and south.
"The strategic initiative is in our hands, so the main thing is not to stop," Zaluzhnyi said after speaking by phone with the commander in chief of Europe's combined NATO forces, U.S. General Christopher Cavoli.
Ukraine's General Staff said on Facebook late on Friday that Ukraine's forces had destroyed large amounts of Russian arms and equipment in Antratsyt south of Luhansk, where Ukraine hopes to recapture major towns after its successes in Kharkiv region.
It said Russian forces had launched more artillery and air strikes on towns including Konstantynivka southwest of Bakhmut, their main target in Donetsk region, and Zaporizhzhia city.
Reuters was not able to verify the battlefield reports.
Separately, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko put his country on what he called a heightened state of terrorism alert on Friday, the latest gesture hinting at growing pressure to join the war.
Lukashenko, Putin's closest international ally, has allowed Russian forces to use Belarus as a staging ground but so far kept his own troops out. This week he announced Russian troops would be joining Belarusian forces near the Ukrainian border.