The move comes as Minsk faces further isolation by the European Union after the incident involving a routine flyover of its airspace.

Disputes over water use increased after the collapse of the Soviet Union as countries of the region failed to create an efficient regional approach to replace Soviet-era systems of water management.

This transformation of the city is somewhat remarkable, and change has always been a constant here. It has had six names since its first mention in 1830 and four in just the last three decades.

The pipeline between Greece and Bulgaria is TAP's 182-kilometre interconnector that will bring around 1 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria, providing between 25 and 30 percent of the European country's gas needs.

The warning was issued as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stoutly defended the action to divert the Ryanair aircraft to Minsk.