Brexit trade talks make 'no significant progress' as deadline nears

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to hold talks with Barnier's boss, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the chairman of the 27 EU leaders, Charles Michel, later this month.

Also Read: U.S. warship sails through Taiwan Strait on Tiananmen anniversary

Negotiators would resume in late June or early July, Barnier said, possibly in person after months of videoconferences because of the coronavirus crisis.

"If we are to make progress, it is clear that we must intensify and accelerate our work," Frost said.

If the negotiation period is not extended this month, a deal needs to be sealed by the end of October to allow enough time for ratification by the bloc's 27 member states, Barnier said.

Hopes for a move on fisheries have not materialised in this week's negotiations and the two sides failed to close the gap on nuclear cooperation or fighting money laundering.

At stake is 650 billion pounds ($825 billion) in trade a year before the coronavirus crisis between the world's fifth-biggest economy and its biggest trading bloc.

Also Read: Italy records 88 new coronavirus deaths on Thursday, 177 new cases

"Is a deal possible? Yes, definitely. But I think it also means the UK needs to have a more realistic approach. You cannot have full sovereignty and at the same time full access to the (EU) single market," Germany's EU ambassador, Michael Clauss, said this week.

On Friday, a UK official involved in the negotiations replied: "It is obvious the EU must move its positions for there to be a deal."

(Additional reporting by Robin Emmott and Jan Strupczewski, Guy Faulconbridge and William James; Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Peter Graff and Giles Elgood)