French President Emmanuel Macron firmly told Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday that there was not enough time to negotiate a wholly new Brexit divorce deal.
On his first foreign trip since winning the premiership a month ago, Johnson warned German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Macron that they will face a potentially disorderly no-deal Brexit on October 31 unless the European Union does a new deal.
Johnson told Macron that he wanted a Brexit deal and believed it was still possible to reach one in time for the Oct. 31 deadline.
He said he had been “powerfully encouraged” by what he had heard from German Chancellor Angela Merkel during talks in Berlin on Wednesday.
“Let’s get Brexit done, let’s get it done sensibly and pragmatically and in the interests of both sides and let’s not wait until October 31,” Johnson said. “Let’s get on now in deepening and intensifying the friendship and partnership between us.”
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