Lukashenko - "There is no debt"

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday his country owed no money for gas deliveries to Russian gas monopoly Gazprom.

"We are in talks. If you take Russia's point of view, this is a gas debt, if you take my point of view, there is no debt. I think we will come to an agreement," Lukashenko told reporters.

Gazprom has said it will cut gas supplies to Belarus from June 21, if the country does not pay a $200 million debt.

Belarus refuses to pay the Russian gas price, which is set at $169 per 1,000 cubic meters in the first quarter of the year and $185 in the second quarter. Instead, it has been paying $150 since Jan. 1.