Russia, says President Dmitry Medvedev, is ready to "co-ordinate" - but not "collude" - with Opec to stabilise oil prices. Two other Russian ministers have been making similar noises, just as Opec prepares to meet in Cairo tomorrow to consider further output cuts. Yet before consuming countries quake about a new price-fixing alliance between the oil cartel and the world's second biggest crude producer, they should understand the precarious tightrope Moscow walks in relations with Opec.

Certainly, Russia has compelling reasons to boost oil prices. Urals blend is $20 below the $70 a barrel level at which Russia tips into budget and current account deficits. The sliding oil price also puts immense pressure on the rouble. Flinching from a politically hazardous devaluation, the Kremlin is burning through billions of dollars of foreign exchange reserves defending the currency. Production from Russia's ageing oilfields, moreover, is already falling, but low prices make developing remote new reserves uneconomic. Most crucially, not co-operating with Opec risks seeing the cartel eschew production cuts to spite non-members who attempt to "free ride" on its efforts to bolster prices.