AKIPRESS.COM - Kazakhstan and Belarus will discuss an oil supply deal before Jan. 20, Kazakhstan Energy Minister Nurlan Nogayev told reporters on Wednesday, without explaining the significance of that date.

Belarus, having failed to agree terms with its main oil supplier Russia this year, has sent proposals to Ukraine, Poland, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and the Baltic states to buy oil from them.

Russian oil companies including Rosneft Gazprom Neft, Lukoil and Surgutneftegaz have suspended deliveries to Belarus since Jan. 1 as Moscow and Minsk argue over contract terms, Reuters reports.