A delicate balancing act
The on-going conflict in Ukraine has sent shockwaves through global energy markets, impacting everything from international relations to commodity prices.
Brexit talks were set to continue between the negotiating teams of the UK and European Union on Monday that aimed at reaching a deal before a crunch summit later this week.
Both sides have said that they hoped to agree a deal before the EU summit on Thursday and Friday, reports BBC reported.
The UK government added that if a plan was agreed, it would introduce a withdrawal agreement bill to be voted on Saturday in a special Parliamentary session.
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However, a European diplomat told AFP that EU ambassadors may gather as soon as Sunday for a stock-taking if Barnier feels there is any backsliding from the British side.
The stepped-up negotiations came after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar held a meeting on Thursday both sides dubbed “promising”.
On Sunday, Johnson, however, told his cabinet that while he could see a “pathway” to a deal, there was “still a significant amount of work” needed to get there.
The European Commission echoed the Prime Minister, saying: “A lot of work remains to be done.”
The President of the European Council Donald Tusk, who will host a summit next week had said that he would have pulled the plug on plans to discuss Brexit if there was no hope of progress.
The weekend talks were not a diplomatic “tunnel” — from which no leaks were meant to escape — of the kind that preceded the signing of a detailed withdrawal agreement last year, which was later rejected by British MPs, a European official told AFP.
Earlier this month, Johnson had submitted new proposals to the EU and its leaders promised to examine them carefully.
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