Belarusian President said that Belarus is in talks with Iran on supplies of oil.

MINSK (Sputnik)��Belarus is in�talks with�Iran on�supplies of�oil, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Friday.

"We have been in�talks with�Iran which is desperately trying to�find an oil market and is ready to�lower prices," Lukashenko told Belarusian lawmakers. He added that the country's refineries should not face shortage of�oil deliveries and should receive crude oil to�the full extent. Belarus faces decline in�oil deliveries from�Russia.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the decrease in�deliveries was linked to�Minsk's gas debt and shortfall of�petrochemicals' deliveries to�Russia. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said that the level of�deliveries could be restored if Moscow and Minsk reached an agreement on�the gas debt. Moscow and Minsk have been locked in�talks over�the price of�Russian gas supplied to�Belarusian consumers.

In July, Novak said that Belarus owed $270 million in�unpaid gas bills to�Russia. Minsk has been refusing to�recognize the debt, saying that the price of $132.77 per 1,000 cubic meters of�gas demanded by�Moscow is unfair. Russia has stressed that payments must be made in�line with�the contract. At the same time, the Belarusian leader said that oil and gas issues should not be mixed.

By Sputnik