MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Johnson waiting for the EU summit before taking any decision on post-Brexit talks

During a cross-Channel call on the eve of the crunch talks, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned that there was “still a lot of work ahead of us”

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared himself disappointed in the progress of post-Brexit trade talks on Wednesday, but he will wait for news from an EU summit before deciding whether to pull the plug.

During a cross-Channel call on the eve of the crunch talks, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned that there was “still a lot of work ahead of us” and that Brussels wanted a deal - just “not at any price.”

A Downing Street spokesman said that Johnson, talking to von der Leyen and EU summit host Charles Michel, had “expressed his disappointment that more progress had not been made over the past two weeks.”

The British leader had warned last month that he would walk away from the table if there was no deal in sight by October 15, but his spokesman said he would now wait for the 27 EU leaders to meet on Thursday and Friday.

“The Prime Minister said that he looked forward to hearing the outcome of the European Council and would reflect before setting out the UK's next steps,” the spokesman said.

The British side has accused Brussels of trying to force concessions by running down the clock, with the window narrowing on chances to agree and ratify a deal before the UK leaves the EU single market on Dec 31.

But von der Leyen stressed that the two sides were still far apart on the EU member states' three priorities in the talks. “Conditions must be right, on fisheries, level-playing field and governance,” she said.