UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated on Friday that the country will leave the European Union (EU) by January 31, 2020, following the December 12 general election.

PM Johnson said,”There is absolutely no reason why between January and the end of next year we shouldn’t complete that free trade deal and have a wonderful new partnership with the EU based on zero tariffs, zero quotas and getting on with all the other ways in which we want to be a pro-European country”, BBC reported.

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The UK is currently due to leave the EU by January 31, 2020, the end of the current extension period granted by the bloc.

“All we have to do is protract those arrangements where appropriate, come out of regulatory alignment and set up a joint committee so that we can discuss if there are any further changes we want to make, we can discuss those together.”

Johnson said while responding to the assertion that the government has delayed Brexit that “Parliament blocked us, which is why we’re having this election. I don’t want to have this election now”.

A major focus of the election will be on areas that voted strongly to Leave or strongly to Remain in the 2016 EU referendum.

On Tuesday, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had said that it was “shameful” that the UK government had not published a delayed parliamentary report into possible Russian interference in British ahead of December elections.

Earlier, UK PM Boris Johnson’s government had rejected the claims it was suppressing the report to avoid a scandal ahead of next month’s snap poll.

Earlier in the month, during UK Trade Policy Observatory (UKTPO) conference in London, experts had warned the UK that they might face huge challenges in external trade talks even if it could take control of the trade policy after Brexit.

Last month, the UK government had announced that they will hold general elections on December 12 in which Britons will decide the composition of the government that will be tasked with steering the country through the tortuous “Brexit” process of withdrawing from the European Union.

The European Union had granted an extension to the UK’s membership of the trading bloc, Britain and Northern Ireland had been aiming to leave on October 31 but with Parliament unable to agree on the terms of the departure, Johnson was legally forced to ask for another extension.