Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned that a “no deal” Brexit would play right into the hands of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who he said wants to see the West divided and that it is imperative for the country to maintain close diplomatic, defense and trade relations with Brussels after the UK exits the bloc.
"Frankly, if we end up with no deal, the only person rejoicing will be Vladimir Putin," Hunt told radio channel France Inter during a visit to Paris, his first major international trip since his predecessor Boris Johnson resigned over Brexit earlier this month.
Calling a no-deal Brexit "the last thing we want," Jeremy Hunt said that Prime Minister Theresa May’s compromise EU divorce plan, including pursuing a UK-EU free trade area, was a push for continued close ties between the two.
Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29 next year, but has yet to finalize a transition deal or agree on the outlines of a longer-term trade relationship with its biggest overseas market.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that time was running out for a Brexit deal, and that this was hurting business, when he visited London earlier this month.
On Thursday, the European Commission's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, met with UK Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab to discuss their sides' respective positions on the Brexit white paper after it was published by the UK government on July 24.
After the meeting, Barnier said that the challenges the two sides still faced are the finalization of the outstanding issues of the withdrawal agreement, including the Irish border, and reaching an agreement on a political declaration of future UK-EU relations.
On July 20, Barnier urged EU member states to speed up preparations for all possible Brexit scenarios, including a no-deal scenario.
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