Russia and Belarus recently have been involved in a series of economic disputes.
Minsk and Moscow signed a deal on gas prices earlier this week, averting potential disruptions of gas supplies to Europe.
Earlier today, a top Belarusian agriculture official, Ivan Danchenko, said that Russia has virtually halted imports of Belarusian sugar.
He said that Belarusian sugar producers have lost a lot of money and might not be able to fulfill contracts with Russian candy makers.
(ITAR-TASS, AP, Reuters)
2006 In RFE/RL's World
2006 IN REVIEW: A photo gallery of key news events of 2006 from across RFE/RL's broadcast region. ...more