Senior Belarusian energy officials held talks in Moscow this evening to seek an agreement on a new supply contract for Russian natural gas, hoping to avert a threatened New Year’s Day cut-off that could affect European deliveries, officials said.

Russia’s natural gas monopoly warned Belarus today not to siphon gas from the main pipeline leading across its territory to Europe if it goes ahead with a threatened supply cut-off on New Year’s Day.

Russia and Belarus are digging in today in a deepening dispute over natural gas prices, as Russia's state-run gas monopoly Gazprom started the countdown towards a January 1 supply cut unless the neighbouring nation agreed to pay more.