Russia is ready to strike a deal to help boost global oil prices, the country's deputy prime minister told CNBC.
"We are ready to sign to have a deal," Arkady Dvorkovich told CNBC in Italy at the Ambrosetti Forum on economics.
Major oil-producing countries will meet in Algiers this month to discuss market conditions. OPEC member countries, plus Russia, are expected to hold discussion on the sidelines about the possibility of an output freeze to boost prices.
Hopes of a deal have fallen through in the past, in particular because Saudi Arabia — OPEC's de facto leader — remains wedded to keeping output high to hold market share.
However, Dvorkovich suggested that with oil prices still low, Saudi Arabia may yet change its mind.
"Any producing country is not good with a very low oil price," he told CNBC.
He said that a good price for crude was between $50 and $70 per barrel.
WTI crude futures for October traded at around $43.35 a barrel on Friday.
"We prefer a stable price," Dvorkovich told CNBC.
Low oil prices have harmed Russia's economy. Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev cut his forecast for economic growth on Friday, predicting the economy would shrink by 0.5 percent-0.6 percent in 2016, according to Russian news agency Interfax.
However, the economy is seen returning to growth in 2017.
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"We are cautiously optimistic about our economy ... We are optimistic the economy will grow next year," Ulyukayev told CNBC.
Sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the European Union since Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea in 2014 have also harmed the economy.
However, Dvorkovich told CNBC that irrespective of sanctions, Russia would respond to "aggressive behavior" in the annexed region.
"Sanctions ... should not be a reason not to respond," he told CNBC.
