Boris Johnson is due to meet his first foreign leader since entering Downing Street when Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas arrives for a meeting today. The Prime Minister’s first one-to-one talks with an EU27 leader comes just hours after reports the EU officials appeared to have accepted the UK Government’s “central position” to be that of leaving the Brussels bloc without a deal. But ahead of Mr Johnson’s meeting with the Estonian Prime Minister, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu claimed the bloc still hoped to find a solution to avoid a hard Brexit.

He told BBC Radio 4 Today Programme: “I would not start to interpret the UK Government’s position, but I’m sure they are devoted to the political agenda they have promised to deliver.

“So this is a reality.”

But the EU official admitted: “I think in the coming weeks it is important to have a dialogue and to look for a solution to avoid a no deal Brexit.

“That said, it is a challenge we have reached.

“But I’m sure we will find a solution. But we need to surely work on that.”

I’m sure we will find a solution. But we need to surely work on that

Urmas Reinsalu

According to the Daily Telegraph, the bloc has accepted Prime Minister Boris Johnson “isn’t bluffing” when it comes to leaving the EU without a deal.

Following a meeting on Monday between European Commission officials and Brexit diplomats from EU27, they are now focusing on “a working hypothesis of no deal”, according to an EU source.

According to the publication, government departments have been given a 48-hour deadline to prove their “readiness” for the scenario.

They said: “Boris Johnson has made the same calculations as we did.

“If this is about preservation of the Conservative Party, nothing but no deal will do.

“Everything else will keep the Brexit Party alive. Any deal will not be Brexit and play straight into the hands of Nigel Farage.

“So Boris has decided to go for no deal and win an election on that ticket.”

They added: “We are now going into full no deal preparation.”

EU officials have, up until recently, believed Mr Johnson would not force the UK out of the bloc.

But according to David Frost, the Prime Minister’s senior advisor, they changed their minds last week.

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A senior diplomat who met with Mr Frost said: “It was clear the UK does not have another plan.

“No intention to negotiate, which would require a plan. A no deal appears to be the UK Government’s central scenario.”

EU negotiators have already said changes to former Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, such as scrapping the Irish backstop, were unacceptable.

But No 10 has rejected claims it wanted talks to fail to allow a no deal Brexit to be pushed through, with a spokesperson adding they hoped the EU would rethink its refusal of changes.

They said the EU “needed to change its stance”, as Mrs May’s deal will not pass through Parliament in its current form.

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