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The EU wants an agreement on how the exit bill will be calculated before talks on the UKs future relationship with the Brussels bloc can move on.

But Brexit Secretary David Davis said it is likely the divorce settlement - to be paid in euros - will still not be agreed by October or November this year.

And he suggested the EU has had a difficult time in the negotiation over the deal, although insisted talks were going well.

Mr Davis said: "We're going to talk it through very, very carefully, so at this stage we're not going to commit.

GETTY

GETTY

There won't be a number by October or November, whenever it is.

The Brexit Secretary added any transition period should be concluded by the date of the next British national election, due by May 2022.

However he added it was likely to last for about two years.

Mr Davis said: It's got to be done by the election. I would say the most likely is something like two years, maybe a bit shorter.

We're going to talk it through very, very carefully, so at this stage we're not going to commit [to a brexit bill deadline]

Brexit secretary David Davis

However Brussels chief negotiator Michel Barnier insisted talks on future relations between the European Union and Britain, including a free trade agreement, cannot begin until it has been decided that sufficient progress has been made on separation issues such as the exit bill.

EU leaders are due to make that assessment at a summit in October and Mr Davis said Britain would meet any real international obligations.

However Mr Davis failed to give a definitive answer about whether the European Court of Justice be the arbiter during for an interim customs deal but said Britain would next week set out its proposals on post-Brexit international arbitration.

Todays comments come after Mr Davis also refused to rule out making payments to Brussels for temporary customs arrangements after leaving the EU.

EPA

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David Davis and Michel Barnier give a press conference at the end of a meeting at EU Commission in Brussels

In a series of broadcast interviews, Mr Davis suggested the temporary arrangements could allow Britain to negotiate trade deals with other countries for when it leaves, as current rules bar members of the EU customs union from making their own deals outside the bloc.

Pressed on whether the UK would have to pay, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I am not going to do the negotiation on air.

What we are not going to do, let's be clear, we are not going to continue the 10billion a year net contributions we currently have."

PA

Asked if money could be a part of the negotiations, he said: "I didn't say that. Wait and see."

Mr Davis also told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "We sell them, the Europeans, about 230 billion euros of goods and services a year.

"They sell us 290 billion euros. So there are a lot of things there."

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'No Brexit bill!' David Davis refuses to bow down to EU deadline on divorce settlement - Express.co.uk