BELGRADE, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Serbia is shoring up its

crude oil and fuel reserves as the country presses on with talks

with the United States and Russia to avoid U.S. sanctions on its

oil company NIS, energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic

said on Wednesday.

Gazprom Neft and Gazprom hold stakes of

50% and 6.15% respectively in NIS, which operates the sole oil

refinery in Serbia.

"We are continuing talks with both the United States and

Russia to reach a solution," Djedovic Handanovic said in a live

TV broadcast.

Following U.S. sanctions against Russia's oil sector on

January 10, Gazprom Neft was given 45 days to exit ownership of

NIS, which operates Serbia's sole oil refinery in Pancevo, just

outside the capital Belgrade.

Serbia, an historical ally with Russia, has submitted a

formal request to the U.S. Treasury Department for a waiver of

sanctions for 90 days to allow it to consider a "sustainable

solution that would lead to the lifting of sanctions."