Trade and energy talks between the prime ministers of Russia and Belarus, which focused on a bilateral energy pricing and tariff dispute, continued in Moscow earlier today.
A bilateral agreement is expected to be signed soon to resolve all outstanding issues, Russia's TV Channel 1 said.
Negotiations between the countries' prime ministers lasted for two days.
The presidents of Russia and Belarus, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, earlier set January 12 as the deadline for their countries' prime minister to find solutions to all problems relating to Russian oil transit via Belarus.
A source in the Russian delegation said previously the negotiations centered on the terms of Russian oil and oil product deliveries to Belarus.
Talks between Mikhail Fradkov and Sergei Sidorsky began Thursday night at the Russian Government House after nine hours of consultations between the ex-Soviet neighbors' delegations on energy supplies and other trade issues, following a standoff over oil supply and transit, during which Russia halted crude exports to Europe via Belarusian pipelines.
Earlier Thursday, Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft resumed Europe-bound oil supplies via the Druzhba (Friendship) oil pipeline system passing through Belarus, ending an export interruption that lasted several days.
Fradkov said at the launch of the talks that the sides "would like to find a balanced and transparent solution" to the problems that caused the oil dispute.
The Russian premier acknowledged that the country's image as a reliable energy supplier has suffered because of the dispute.
Moscow halted deliveries to Europe via the pipeline January 7, saying Belarus was illegally diverting oil, following a tit-for-tat price and tariff dispute. Belarus slapped a transit fee of $45 per metric ton of crude after Moscow doubled the price of natural gas and introduced a tax on oil supplies to Belarus as of January 1.
The supply interruption affected Germany, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The standoff, which evoked parallels with an energy row with Ukraine involving natural gas this time last year, triggered further accusations in Europe that Russia is using hydrocarbons as a political tool, and discussions on the need to diversify energy sources.
