Russia's oil minister Alexander Novak put the responsibility on Opec to reach a production freeze deal when its members meet informally in Algiers later this month, before Russia would commit itself.
He said: "Of course, if Opec comes to a consensus, we are ready to join them in considering concrete proposals on the oil production freeze."
In April, Novak had to return to Moscow empty-handed after Saudi Arabia decided at the last minute not to sign a production freeze proposal that looked to have been pre-agreed between a number of Opec countries and some non-Opec producers, Russia being the most important.
Novak was involved in negotiations leading up to the freeze proposal, holding talks with Qatari energy minister Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada and the then Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi in March to plan the April meeting in Doha.
In the wake of the Doha disarray, when the Saudis said they would not freeze unless Iran would do so, and Iran having consistently said it would not be subject to output constraints until it regained pre-sanctions levels, Novak backed away from the idea of a freeze, saying the idea's time had passed and the market was moving slowly back into balance.
But recently Moscow has signalled willingness to consider the idea again. Novak said today: "Balancing [of oil market] has not happened yet, we see that the supply exceeds the demand and that prices are quite low, which does not let producers to invest in new projects."
In today's comments, Novak put the blame for the Doha failure at the door of Opec's internal disagreements, saying: "I would like to remind you that in April there was a decision that Opec countries should agree among themselves on co-ordinated actions in the international oil market," adding "We hope that the differences within Opec will be overcome in the near future and a compromise will be found."
