Brussels and London start a conclusive week of talks on Monday on a new trade deal and implementing their divorce agreement before national leaders assess progress or the danger of a no-deal split on Thursday and Friday.

The EU is right to continue talking to Britain for now, and should not overreact to British tactics that could be aimed at pushing Brussels to break off negotiations over a trade deal, France’s European affairs minister said on Thursday cited by Reuters.

EU leaders will talk on trade and investment with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, despite tensions over Hong Kong's freedoms and Beijing's treatment of its Uighur minority, news wires reported. Chinese officials, EU chiefs Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold a video-conference to replace a full summit with all 27 EU leaders cancelled because of coronavirus.

Former British PMs Tony Blair and Sir John Major urged Parliament to reject Boris Johnson's "shameful" attempt to override parts of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement by imposing the so-called Internal Market Bill, the BBC reported. It is to be voted in parliament on Monday. The PMs accused the government of "embarrassing" the UK.

British PM Boris Johnson on Saturday told the EU not to threaten Britain, saying a bill which would breach a divorce treaty with the bloc was needed to protect the country’s integrity, news wires reported. “Let’s make the EU take their threats off the table”, Johnson wrote on Twitter. “And let’s get this Bill through, back up our negotiators, and protect our country.”

The UK secured its first major post-Brexit trade deal on Friday after signing an agreement with Japan just as discussions with the EU appeared to be on the verge of collapse, news wires reported.

The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Monday that negotiations on future relations were difficult and declined to comment on a report Britain was planning legislation to override parts of the divorce deal. The Financial Times reported that Britain could effectively discard major parts of last year’s Withdrawal Agreement unless the bloc agrees to a free trade deal by 15 October.

British PM Boris Johnson is drawing up legislation that will override the Brexit withdrawal agreement on Northern Ireland, a move that threatens the collapse of crunch talks which the prime minister has said must be completed within five weeks British media reported. Johnson will put an ultimatum to negotiators this week, saying the UK and Europe must agree a post-Brexit trade deal by 15 October or Britain will walk away for good.

The UK believes it can agree a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU next month, according to Downing Street. The PM's spokesman said UK negotiators would "continue to plug the gaps" when talks enter their seventh round in Brussels on Wednesday. The two sides remain deeply divided over competition rules, fishing rights and how a deal would be enforced.

With the latest round of Brexit trade negotiations started last Monday on London, both sides are on the brink to leave hopes for signing a post-Brexit trade deal, with only a few days left before PM Boris Johnson’s July deadline, British media reported.