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Minsk's stance on Customs Union establishment remains unchanged, foreign ministry's spokesman says

Minsk's stance on the establishment of the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia remains unchanged, Andrey Savinykh, spokesman for the Belarusian foreign ministry, told reporters on June 17, as quoted by BelaPAN.

"We continue working at all levels and aim to look for mutually acceptable solutions," he said.

Earlier this month Belarus said that it was ready to join Customs Union agreements signed by Kazakhstan and Russia in late May on condition that they make “no exceptions,” a reference to a dispute over Russia's export duty on crude oil supplied to the two Belarusian refineries.

Last month Russia and Kazakhstan agreed to launch the union on July 1 on a bilateral basis without Belarus after negotiations stalled as Moscow refused to abolish the contentious export duty, which has considerably pushed up the price of crude imported by Belarus.

Speaking at Thursday's news conference, Mr. Savinykh said that Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Kabyakow would lead Belarus' delegation to a meeting of the Customs Union Commission in St.Petersburg on June 18.