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Live Updates: 'Differences Remain on Critical Issues', Von der Leyen Says After Call With Johnson

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Earlier, The Sun reported that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was ready to pull out of Brexit talks 'within hours' over EU demands.

The UK pound dropped against the US dollar on Monday morning, amid fears that UK and EU negotiators may not succeed.

The pound fell 1.2 percent against the dollar and 1 percent versus the euro, and is trading at $1.3262 during deals.

"Sterling-risks to Brexit no-deal endgames were exposed this morning as the chatter was less optimistic than many of us thought it would be," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst for Markets.com.

On Monday morning, The Sun newspaper reported that Boris Johnson was ready to pull out of Brexit talks if the EU refused to budge on its demands.

According to the newspaper, Boris Johnson will tell the EU that he is digging in his heels as he vows to stand firm against 11th-hour Brexit demands from France.

Downing Street did not comment officially on the information.

Earlier, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed during a phone conversation to continue post-Brexit talks and hold another call on Monday evening. The UK prime minister's office released a statement saying that "significant differences" remained on critical issues, including governance, the "level playing field," and fisheries.

The UK formally left the EU on 31 January. Now the two sides have until 31 December, when the transition period ends, to negotiate the terms of their post-Brexit relations. A possible trade deal is the focus of attention, specifically, without which the two sides will have to trade under standard rules of the World Trade Organization after the transition period ends.

Follow Sputnik feed to find out more.  

New firstOld first
18:49 GMT 07.12.2020

Differences remain on critical issues concerning a Brexit agreement, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after her phone conversation with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.  

"We both asked our negotiators to prepare the list of differences to be discussed in person in the coming days," Von der Leyen said. 

13:16 GMT 07.12.2020

"Time is very short, but ... we are prepared to keep negotiating as long as we have time available if we think an agreement is possible. That remains our position, so our teams will (continue) negotiating today," the spokesman said.

12:04 GMT 07.12.2020

"No, it's not looking good and the reason it's not looking good is that the UK are failing to understand the significance of the three outstanding issues and the need for the UK to compromise," EU Financial Services Commissioner Mairead McGuinness said.

10:09 GMT 07.12.2020

"Barnier and Frost negotiated intensively... and made some progress but not quite managed to bridge differences," said the person. "There has been no decisive progress though some progress has been made."

"We are at the make-it-or-break-it moment," they said.

09:43 GMT 07.12.2020

“At the moment these negotiations seem stalled, and the barriers to progress are still very much in place,” Irish foreign minister said.

09:40 GMT 07.12.2020
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