EC: Conditions to seal Brexit deal are 'not there'

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will head to Brussels to see whether a last minute trade deal can be hammered out despite big differences on key issues, leaders of the U.K. and the EU said Monday.

Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after a lengthy phone call that “significant differences” remained on three key issues and “the conditions for finalising an agreement are not there.”

“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," they said in a joint statement.

Despite the continuing impasse, plans for a top-level meeting will be seen as a good sign.

The two leaders spoke for the second time in 48 hours as their trade teams remained locked in stalled negotiations in Brussels.

Gaps remain on fishing rights, fair-competition rules and the governance of future disputes, with just other three weeks until the two sides’ current economic relationship unravels at the end of the year.