WTI slumps below $62.00 as traders brace for Trump-Zelenskiy talks

• WTI price attracts some sellers to near $61.80 in Monday's Asian session.
• Trump said he will urge Zelenskiy to make a quick deal. 
• Traders will closely watch Trump's meeting with Zelenskiy later on Monday.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $61.80 during the Asian trading hours on Monday. The WTI tumbles as traders remain cautious ahead of US President Donald Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday. 

Trump said after his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday that he will urge Zelenskiy to make a quick deal, and sounded receptive to Putin's demand that Ukraine give up large swathes of land, per Bloomberg. Trump early Monday further stated that Zelenskiy can end the war with Russia almost immediately if he wants to, or he can continue to fight.

Ukrainian leader facing US pressure to reach a peace deal with Russia that involves ceding territory. Oil traders will closely monitor the developments surrounding Trump-Zelenskiy talks. Any signs of escalating tensions could boost the WTI price, while a potential ceasefire could exert some selling pressure on the black gold.

Also, investors are looking for more cues that the US may move closer to Russia in a bid to exploit vast, untapped Arctic energy resources, in a dramatic geopolitical shift that puts pressure on Europe to quickly increase defense expenditure, according to Reuters. 

Bank of America strategist Michael Hartnett emphasized that US-Russia Arctic drilling initiatives have the potential to extract 15% of the world's undiscovered oil and 30% of the world's undiscovered natural gas, leading to a significant energy bear market.

Meanwhile, the expectation that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut rates at the September meeting could undermine the US Dollar (USD) and lift the USD-denominated commodity prices. According to the CME FedWatch tool, Fed funds futures traders are now pricing in nearly a 93% chance of a 25 basis point (bps) cut next month, up from an 85% chance last week.