British Cry Foul as Brexit Negotiations Hit French Obstacle
- U.K. warns that talks have gone backward after new EU demands
- Negotiations enter ‘critical phase’ with trade deal in doubt
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Brexit trade talks that were on the verge of a breakthrough descended into a fight between the U.K. and France as the British government said the prospects of an imminent deal had receded.
With negotiators working around the clock in London, optimism had been growing for days that an agreement could be struck this weekend. But British officials said the European Union had suddenly turned up with a new set of demands on Thursday, sending the talks backward. They didn’t say what the demands were, and EU officials denied it.