British PM, European Council President to meet for Brexit talks

British PM, European Council President to meet for Brexit talks

PanARMENIAN.Net - Theresa May is to meet European Council President Donald Tusk for the first time since becoming UK prime minister later, with Brexit on the agenda, BBC News reports.

In talks at Downing Street, May will say the UK will continue to play a full role in the EU until it leaves.

It comes as EU leaders, excluding the UK, prepare to meet next week to sketch out the bloc's future after Brexit.

The PM has said the government will not reveal its hand too soon, amid pressure to set out its post-Brexit vision.

Tusk - who oversaw the UK's EU renegotiation prior to the in/out referendum - has said he wants to see a "velvet divorce" between the UK and EU, but he has also insisted that there will be no formal talks until the UK triggers the formal process for leaving under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

The meeting between May and Tusk was being billed as an attempt for the two leaders to get to know each other ahead of those negotiations, BBC said.

They will also discuss trade, migration, and Russian sanctions and the Ukraine.

The PM's official spokeswoman said: "It will be an opportunity in part to talk about the process of leaving the European Union, how we see the upcoming months, but also to talk about the upcoming October European Council and some of the issues that we expect to be on the agenda for that."

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