Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko the supply of hydrocarbons to Belarus, the BelTA agency reports , citing a statement from Lukashenko's press service.

The presidents instructed the governments of the two countries to conclude contracts for the supply of oil and gas in the coming days. If these contracts are not concluded by January 1, the governments must develop an interim version of the terms of supply, the article notes. The press service also added that Putin and Lukashenko "if necessary" can hold a meeting to discuss and make these decisions after the Christmas holidays in mid-January.

On December 20, following talks with the Russian president, Lukashenko announced that conceptual agreements on energy resources had been reached. According to him, Minsk plans to purchase about 20 billion cubic meters of gas from Moscow in 2020. However, Lukashenko later said that if Russia sets too high a price for the purchase of gas and oil, Minsk will begin to look for other supply options, for example, using reverse oil through Poland. The press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, said that Belarus has the right to use any oil supply options that are more profitable than those offered by Russia. He noted that this is a commercial issue.

Putin and Lukashenko discussed oil and gas supplies to Belarus