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Brexit talks deadlock has been 'exaggerated' European Council president Donald Tusk says Brexit talks deadlock 'exaggerated', European Council president Donald Tusk says
(35 minutes later)
Reports that Brexit talks are deadlocked have been "exaggerated", the president of the European Council has said. Reports that Brexit talks between Britain and the EU are deadlocked have been "exaggerated", the president of the European Council has said.
Donald Tusk told reporters at the European Council summit in Brussels that there had been progress in talks, even though sufficient progress had not been reached to move to trade negotiations. Donald Tusk told reporters at the European Council summit in Brussels that there had been progress in talks, even though sufficient progress had not been reached to move to trade negotiations.
"After Prime Minister May's intervention last night and our discussion about Brexit this morning my impression is that the reports of the deadlock between the EU and the UK have been exaggerated and while progress is not sufficient it doesn’t mean there’s no progress at all," he told reporters in Brussels at a press conference to mark the end of the summit. But European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker stood by the urgent description of the situation, first used by his chief negotiator Michel Barnier and coined at the end of the last round of talks this month.
European Commission chief negotiator Michel Barnier was the first senior official to use the term "deadlock". He has said he is "worried" about progress so far, particularly on the issue of the divorce bill. Mr Tusk told reporters in Brussels at a press conference to mark the end of the summit: "After Prime Minister May's intervention last night and our discussion about Brexit this morning my impression is that the reports of the deadlock between the EU and the UK have been exaggerated and while progress is not sufficient it doesn’t mean there’s no progress at all."
Mr Barnier had used the term "deadlock" three times in a press conference at the conclusion of the last round of talks, specifically in reference to the divorce bill.
Contradicting Mr Tusk and defending his negotiator, Mr Juncker told journalists: "In my rhetoric I would have used the word deadlock four times, not three times … with the British press you have to be as superficial as the British press is."
But Mr Tusk said: "I want to be the positive motivator for the next five or six weeks because our ambition is to achieve the final of the fist phase in December. For this we need, maybe a more positive narrative. 
"You can describe our negotiations in a very different words, but my feeling today ... I feel that for sure both sides present only good will and this is why maybe in my rhetoric I am maybe a little bit more optimistic than Michel Barnier, but I am also in a different role."
Mr Tusk matched some action to his words by granting a tiny concession to the UK – allowing the EU side to internally prepare for trade talks with Britain, should that stage of negotiations be reached.
Ms May this morning admitted there was "some way to go" in negotiations, again refusing to put a figure on Britain's divorce bill that other leaders say must be settled before trade negotiations can begin. She said a "final settlement" would come as part of a "final agreement".
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