MOSCOW (AP) — Russia will resume talks with China within days to secure $25 billion in loans for cash-strapped energy companies in exchange for long-term crude oil deliveries, a news agency reported yesterday.

Talks on the loan had reportedly broken down last week after disagreements over interest rates and state guarantees.

"I think the talks will resume soon — in the next few days, even next week," Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said on yesterday from the northern province of Yamal Nenets, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.

China is considering lending $15 billion to Rosneft, Russia's state-owned oil major, and US$10 billion to pipeline monopoly Transneft as the Russian companies find it tougher to access funding amid tough global conditions and plunging oil prices.

As part of a broader deal, Russia promised to guarantee annual oil supply of 15 million tons (300,000 barrels per day) for 20 years to its energy-hungry southern neighbor.

Russian crude would be supplied through a long-delayed pipeline project signed off during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Moscow last month. The pipeline, which extends from western Siberia to the Pacific coast, is to be linked to China from the Siberian city of Skovorodino, 70 kilometers (44 miles) north of the Sino-Russian border.