The Brexit talks came to a halt when negotiators identified “significant divergences” between the parties.

THE BREXIT NEGOTIATIONS have been temporarily halted because the conditions for reaching an agreement have not been met after a week of talks in London.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, will discuss the current situation tomorrow afternoon, after the negotiations were suspended.

Key UK and EU negotiators have issued a joint statement tonight to say there are “significant divergences” in the deals the two sides are seeking.

Michel Barnier, the European Commission’s head of negotiations with the UK, and David Frost, the prime minister’s EU advisor, have said that after a week of “intense negotiations”, they have agreed that “the conditions for an agreement are not met “”.

“On this basis, they agreed to pause the talks to inform their directors about the status of the negotiations,” the statement said.

“President von der Leyen and Prime Minister Johnson will discuss the situation tomorrow afternoon.”

Talks on Brexit started in London this week, and a British cabinet minister said this morning that trade talks were in a “difficult phase.”

Commerce Secretary Alok Sharma said there were a “number of sensitive issues” that remained to be resolved.

A senior source in the UK government said earlier that “a breakthrough is still possible in the coming days, but that outlook is waning.”

Fishing rights have been a “bone of contention” in post-Brexit trade talks between the UK and the EU, and the UK has tried to assert control of its waters.

The “level playing field” issue refers to the objectives of preventing unfair competition in government subsidies and standards.

The Brexit transition period will end on December 31.

Additional AFP reports