Brexit deal still possible, PMs say

LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar have said they can see ‘‘a pathway’’ to a possible Brexit deal.

After more than two hours of ‘‘detailed and constructive’’ talks at a country manor near Liverpool yesterday, the two leaders said it was in everybody’s interest to get an agreement that would allow the UK to leave the EU with a deal.

Varadkar said he hoped the progress they made would be sufficient to enable intensive negotiations to resume in Brussels ahead of next week’s crucial EU summit.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay will meet EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels today, when they are expected to assess whether there are grounds to move forward.

Johnson almost certainly needs the EU leaders gathering in Brussels on October 17 and 18 to sign off on an agreement in order to be able to take Britain out of the EU on October 31 with a deal.

Speaking to reporters before his return to Dublin, Varadkar said while there were still issues to be resolved, he believed it was possible to meet the Halloween deadline.

‘‘I think it is possible for us to come to an agreement, to have a treaty to allow the UK to leave the EU in an orderly fashion, and to have that done by the end of October, but there’s many a slip between cup and lip,’’ he said.

The unexpectedly upbeat statement comes at the end of a week marked by acrimonious exchanges between London, Dublin and Brussels in which the negotiations appeared close to collapse.