MINSK, January 24 (RIA Novosti) - The government of Belarus has been taking steps to find alternative suppliers of energy since a three-day suspension of Russian oil earlier this month, a senior Belarusian official said Wednesday.

Moscow cut off supplies via a major pipeline running through Belarus in early January when Minsk imposed a transit fee on Russian crude after Moscow hiked the gas price for its ex-Soviet neighbor and imposed an oil export duty.

First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko said the Belarusian government is now actively exploring possibilities for energy cooperation with other petroleum-exporting nations, such as Azerbaijan, Iran and Venezuela.

"Some progress has already been made here," he said, adding that crude from those countries could be delivered through Baltic Sea ports.

The suspension of crude supplies via the Druzhba pipeline supplying Germany and Central Europe undermined Russia's reputation as a reliable supplier for many of its Western European customers. Since the standoff, Russian President Vladimir Putin has held talks with the German chancellor and the Italian prime minister at his residence in southern Russia, with energy security at the top of the agenda.

The Belarusian diplomat also said his country will try to diversify its energy sources by using more bio fuels and constructing coal-fired and hydropower plants.