Russia is not ready to exclude export duties on oil and gas from a Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan, the Russian ambassador to Belarus said on Friday.

"We are not ready to leave out duties on energy products at the first stage," Alexander Surikov said at a news conference in Minsk.

While he admitted that there was no place for export duties in a customs union, he also said that "in all [other] customs unions, trade is at market prices."

Moscow and Minsk faced off at the start of the year over tariffs on imports of Russian oil, which Belarus said should be completely duty-free in the Customs Union.

On Sunday, Russian Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina said that all the disputed Russian-Belarusian issues including the export duties on Russian oil and petroleum products, "will be settled simultaneously with all the other issues concerning the single economic space".

Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the creation of the Customs Code in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, on November 27, 2009.

The Customs Union formally came into existence on January 1, but is unable to start working fully until disputes are resolved and the customs code comes into effect.

Other disputed issues include the import of foreign cars and aircraft into the Union's customs territory.

MINSK, June 11 (RIA Novosti)