London and Brussels try to secure post-Brexit deal as deadline draws near

The United Kingdom's prime minister will sit down with the president of the European Union's executive branch this week to try to break a logjam blocking a comprehensive trade deal.

Boris Johnson, who will travel to Brussels for the meeting, also spoke to Ursula von der Leyen by telephone on Monday evening in search of a way forward for the negotiations that began after the nation left the bloc on Jan 31.

Both leaders have said they want a trade deal in place that ensures tariff－free goods and services continue to fl ow freely between them.

But, despite agreeing in many areas, they have been deadlocked on a handful of issues that include the best mechanism to police any future deal, the degree of access EU fishing boats should have to UK waters, and the best way to ensure a level playing field for all businesses.

Now, the clock is ticking down to the Dec 31 end of the transition period that has meant the UK has continued to trade with the bloc as if it were still a member.

After Monday's phone call, the leaders issued a statement saying: "We asked our chief negotiators and their teams to prepare an overview of the remaining differences to be discussed in a physical meeting in Brussels in the coming days."

The Guardian newspaper quoted Johnson as saying: "You've got to be optimistic, you've got to believe that the power of sweet reason (can) get this thing over the line, but I've got to tell you, it's looking very, very difficult at the moment."

Matt Hancock, the British health minister, said the upcoming meeting shows Johnson is "straining every sinew" to get a deal done.

"That deal is potentially doable but the EU, obviously, has to want to do it," he said.

The UK's main opposition, the Labour Party, said the prime minister should have become involved in the talks weeks ago, instead of "leaving it to the 11th hour".

The Financial Times said the "make-or-break" talks will be held either on Wednesday or Friday because an important EU summit is set for Thursday.

Ireland's foreign minister, Simon Coveney, told television broadcaster RTE the "increasingly frustrated" EU now expects a deal will not be done.

"In Brussels, certainly, the mood is starting to shift to contingency planning for a no-deal," he said.

A no-deal Brexit would be expensive. The UK's independent Office for Budget Responsibility has said it would dent the UK economy by 2 percent, or around 40 billion pounds ($53.4 billion), and cost 300,000 British jobs in 2021.