KIEV, Dec. 22 - Ukraine is in talks with Russia seeking to hike the fee it charges for shipments of Russian crude oil via its territory, Bohdan Sokolovskiy, the top energy envoy for President Viktor Yushchenko, said Tuesday.

The talks are expected to end before January 1, 2010, so the new, higher fees will be in affect next year, Sokolovskiy said. He declined to mention the fee that Ukraine would like to charge.