KIEV, Jan. 10 ??“ Oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia via Ukraine resumed late Wednesday after a deal between Belarus and Russia had ended a two-day stand-off that had strained energy deliveries throughout Europe.

The supplies resumed shortly after talks by telephone between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko later also spoke with Putin.

???The oil supplies have resumed at 11:00 PM and come at full capacity,??? Interfax-Ukraine reported Wednesday citing Oleksandr Dykusarov, an official at UkrTransNafta, Ukraine??™s monopoly oil shipper.

The development comes as a relief for many European countries, including Hungary and Slovakia, whose oil supplies have been disrupted by a trade dispute between Russia and Belarus over oil transit duties.

Russia suspended oil supplies to Europe via Belarus on Monday after Belarus had apparently started to siphon off some of the Russian oil as a payment in-kind for the oil transit.

Most of Russian oil supplies via Belarus go to Poland and Germany, but a smaller oil pipeline crosses Belarus on the way to Ukraine and to other European countries, such as Hungary and Slovakia, and for exports via an oil terminal near Odessa.

The oil supplies resumed after Belarus had agreed to remove its oil transit duty it had imposed on Russian oil supplies.

Belarus, which accounts for at least 30% of Russian oil exports to Europe, slapped a $45/metric ton duty on Jan. 1. The duty was a response to a $180/metric ton duty imposed by Russia on oil exports to Belarus. Minsk said Russia??™s duty could undermine Belarus??™s oil refining and petrochemical industry.

The suspended oil supplies could cost the UkrTransNafta about $10 million per month in lost oil transit fees, according to Energy and Fuel Minister Yuriy Boyko.

The Russia-Belarus oil supply dispute was in focus of top European Union officials on Tuesday and Wednesday amid concerns over energy security in the region.

The dispute echoed a trade war between Russia and Ukraine 12 months ago over natural gas supplies that had also resulted in two-day disruptions of Russian gas supplies to Europe.

After the talks between Putin and Lukashenka Belarus agreed to remove the oil transit duty in order to re-start talks on reducing a duty imposed on Russian oil exports to Belarus.

???The duty lost its validity,??? said Belarus Prime Minister Sergei Sidorskiy after the Putin-Lukashenka talks. ???We hope within the next two days all other issues will be resolved too.???

Sidorskiy is due to meet Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov on Thursday in Moscow. (tl/ez)