Brexit: Donald Tusk says there has been "no breakthrough"

23 September 2019, 21:27

Donald Tusk has said there has been "no breakthrough" following a Brexit meeting with Boris Johnson.

The EU council president had a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss Brexit.

Mr Tusk tweeted: "No breakthrough. No breakdown. No time to lose. #Brexit."

The announcement came after Number 10 said that Mr Johnson was using the meeting to tell Mr Tusk that to achieve any deal the UK needs "movement and flexibility from the EU."

However, before flying out to New York Mr Johnson warned not to expect a "New York breakthrough" on Brexit.

He is also set to meet with France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Angela Merkel for a three way discussion this week.

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister will have talks with Donald Trump and Leo Varadkar.

During his flight on Sunday night, Boris Johnson said: "There will be discussions. I would caution you all not to think that this will be the moment - New York - it might be, but I don't wish to elevate the belief that there will be a New York breakthrough. I'm not going to be pessimistic, we'll be pushing ahead but there is still work to be done."

Mr Johnson also remained optimistic after his Brexit proposals were rejected by the EU on Friday night, stating: "I think that a great deal of progress has been made in the sense that, you know, think about when I first became PM, everyone was saying there was no chance of changing the existing agreement, and I think that nobody is saying that."