President Vladimir Putin and his Belarussian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, discussed Monday a dispute between the ex-Soviet states over Russian potash producer Uralkali, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Peskov did not say whether the leaders had reached any agreement that could lead to the return to Russia of Uralkali's chief executive Vladislav Baumgertner, who was arrested in Minsk last month and remains behind bars following the collapse in July of a lucrative sales joint venture run by Uralkali.
Russia said last week it expected Belarus to hand over Baumgertner soon.
Putin and Lukashenko met on the sidelines of a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a security alliance of six former Soviet republics, in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.