British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen released a joint statement Sunday agreeing to extend Brexit talks.
鈥淲e had a useful phone call this morning,鈥� the statement said. 鈥淲e discussed the major unresolved topics.鈥�
鈥淥ur negotiating teams have been working day and night over recent days,鈥� it continued. 鈥淎nd despite the exhaustion after almost a year of negotiations, despite the fact that deadlines have been missed over and over we think it is responsible at this point to go the extra mile.鈥�
鈥淲e have accordingly mandated our negotiators to continue the talks and to see whether an agreement can even at this late stage be reached,鈥� it added.
Johnson called his Cabinet ministers to a meeting to update them.
He had previously said Sunday was the final deadline for a trade agreement to be reached with the EU, with speculation mounting that the process would end in a no-deal Brexit.
No new deadline has been set, but the UK鈥檚 transition period out of the EU ends on Dec. 31 this year, which is only 18 days away.
By Karim El-Bar in London
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr