Belarus is not planning to block Russian oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline, according to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

"Russia cannot fully replace this route [Druzhba]. Some say deliveries via Leningrad are possible. They are free to do that. However, the delivery of such amounts is impossible. And how much will it cost? No one says we will shut down transit. It [transit] is advantageous to us, as well," the state-run news agency BelTA quoted Lukashenko as saying during his visit to the Students' Village in Minsk on Saturday.

"We have suspended repairs to prevent the situation with oil supply to Belarus and transit to Western Europe from exacerbating," he said.