Serbia has expressed support for ongoing negotiations between Russian owners of its sanctioned oil company NIS and Hungary’s MOL, aiming to find a solution to lift sanctions, local media reported.

Serbia’s Russian-owned oil company NIS has halted operations at its main refinery due to a lack of crude oil. The disruption comes after U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil sector — including NIS — fully took effect in October, ending previously granted waivers.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) believes there is a strong chance that North Korea and the United States will hold a summit, likely after March next year, according to a South Korean lawmaker.

On Thursday, the United States imposed sanctions on Serbia's Russian-owned oil company NIS (NIIS.BEL), which led neighboring Croatia to halt crude oil deliveries, sparking fears that Serbia's only refinery could be forced to shut down in the coming weeks.

Serbian police detained 79 protesters late Wednesday during a forceful crackdown on demonstrations calling for snap elections and the end of President Aleksandar Vucic’s 12-year rule alongside his Serbian Progressive Party.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has suspended sanctions on Serbia’s NIS oil company for 30 days, the country’s President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Thursday.

Serbia's energy ministry announced on Tuesday that the Serbian oil company NIS, majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, has formally requested a 90-day sanctions waiver from the U.S. Treasury Department.

By Maria Zhigadlo