Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday any cut in energy prices for Belarus should coincide with that country's "integration," RIA Novosti reports on its Web site.
Putin is quoted as saying Belarus had asked to keep natural gas prices in 2010 at last year's level, though under a contract "the price should slightly rise."
"Perhaps this is possible, but it should coincide with integration into the Union state," Putin said. "The deeper the integration, the more possibility there will be to switch to domestic Russian prices and standards, including for energy."
Putin also said Russia wasn't ready to include Belarussian producers of agricultural machinery into subsidized programs.