Boris Johnson is disappointed that talks with the EU on the post-Brexit trade deal have not made much progress

The UK Prime Minister has expressed disappointment at the lack of further progress in talks with the European Union on the post – Brexit trade deal.

Ahead of the EU summit in Brussels, PM Boris Johnson discussed about the deal with the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Charles Michel.

A spokesman said the prime minister had noted the desirability of a deal but was disappointed that no further progress had been made in the past two weeks.

He said that the Prime Minister was looking forward to hearing the results of the European Council and would focus on the next measures taken by the United Kingdom in the light of his statement of 7 September.

The European Commission president said the EU was still working on a deal but that all aspects of a deal had to be right. “The EU is working on a deal, but not at any price. Conditions must be right, on fisheries, level-playing field and governance,” Ms. von der Leyen tweeted.

Earlier this month, Mr. Johnson and Mrs. von der Leyen decided to strengthen talks on a wide-ranging deal spanning Britain’s alliance with the EU. However, the EU opposed the British attempt to impose a strict time limit on the coercion of an agreement.

Prime Minister’s official spokesman said there had been some progress this week in the technical areas of the talks but there were still differences; mainly regarding fishing rights.

“We need to get the substance settled and not having a common text to work from has made progress doubly difficult,” the spokesman said. Meanwhile, he said the Prime Minister’s September 7 statement was very clear about the significance of October 15.

“He will need to take a decision on next steps following the European Council in the light of his conversation with President von der Leyen, and on advice from his negotiating team.” But he added that he could not predict what the decision would be.