UK: US welcomes progress in UK-EU talks on Northern Ireland

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington welcomed the progress that was made so far between the United Kingdom and the European Union in the ongoing talks on the Northern Ireland trade deal. Blinken’s comments come amidst optimism from both sides in reaching a solution to the issues surrounding the deal.

In a joint news conference with British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly after the meeting in Washington, Blinken said Washington welcomes the progress made so far on the ongoing talks. Blinken also reiterated the US stance that there must be a solution that is acceptable to all parties involved. Cleverly and Blinken’s meeting mostly focused on support for Ukraine, but the two top diplomats discussed other key issues, such as the ongoing talks on the trade deal.

“And we’re heartened that in recent days the United Kingdom and the European Union have made substantive progress toward a negotiated solution,” Blinken told reporters.

Cleverly said he updated Blinken on the talks that he described were done “in good faith with a genuine desire to get resolution to these important issues.”

While US President Joe Biden has often highlighted the importance of maintaining the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, US officials said Washington would not take sides on the matter of the post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and the bloc. The UK and the EU agreed on Monday to move forward with the talks even as there are still gaps that remain between both sides after a months-long deadlock.

The British Prime Minister’s office said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would not be extending the deadline to replace the remaining European Union laws that are in place even after the UK left the bloc. The debate on the legislation to replace EU laws is set to happen on Wednesday amidst criticism from those opposed that it could result in a weakening of protections that existed through the country’s EU membership.

The government said the legislation was not aimed at watering down such protections but instead would create a regulatory environment that will fuel economic growth. The most important provision in the bill automatically invalidates secondary retained EU law by December 31, which led to uncertainty among businesses and the concern that the scale of replacing EU laws would take up government resources.