EU relations Some signs of thawing, but barriers still remain

early five years after Brexit, the EU is thinking again about its estranged ex-member. The union's 27 leaders will discuss its relationship with the UK today, for the first time since the election of Keir Starmer, who wants to reset relations and end the rancour of the Brexit years.

- Jennifer Rankin

The talks, at an EU summit in Brussels, look set to be brief, forming part of a crowded lunch discussion on EU foreign policy covering issues such as the return of Donald Trump, the Middle East, China and Ukraine.

Nonetheless, the European Council president, Antonio Costa, has squeezed into the agenda: "The question of developing mutually beneficial strategic relations with the United Kingdom - notably in the field of security and defence - while respecting the fundamental principles on which the post-Brexit EU-UK relationship is built" - code for not rewriting Brexit red lines.

At an apparently warm meeting in Downing Street last week, Starmer accepted Costa's invitation to a retreat of EU leaders on 3 February to discuss defence and security. A senior EU official said there was "strong potential" for an EU-UK defence agreement, and after that is the first EU-UK summit, expected in March or April - a symbolic breakthrough that may be the start of further talks.