Belarus holds energy talks with Iran, weighs options with West amid tariff dispute with Moscow

Special to WorldTribune.com

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka says his country is negotiating with Iran about purchasing oil.

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow in December 2015. / Sputnik
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow in December 2015. / Sputnik

Speaking at a session of parliament in Minsk on October 7, Lukashenka said talks with Tehran are under way amid differences with Russia on the importing of oil and gas.

“We are holding talks with Iran, which is desperate to find [places] to deliver its oil and which will cut the price for us,” Lukashenka said.

Lukashenka also said he ordered the government to restart looking into a Baltics oil pipeline project and to finish renovating an oil refinery in the nation’s northern city of Navapolatsk.

Belarus has been at odds with Russia over the tariff on oil transit for several months.

Lukashenka added that Belarus is ready for dialogue with all of its neighbors, including the European Union and the United States, despite the fact that it “makes some in the East uneasy.”