Starmer will meet on Monday with EU chiefs for the first post-Brexit EU-UK summit aimed at agreeing steps towards a closer relationship between Britain and the 27-country bloc which it left five years ago after an acrimonious and knife-edge referendum.
Starmer will welcome EU bosses Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa as well as top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas for Monday's talks at the storied Lancaster House venue in London.
Talks looked set however to go down to the wire due to last-minute squabbling over long-standing issues, such as fishing rights and food checks.
Starmer, elected Labour prime minister last July, wants a deeper relationship with the European Union than the one negotiated by the previous Conservative government.
The move is aimed at opening the door to closer cooperation as both the EU and Britain race to rearm in the face of the threat from Russia and fears the United States under President Donald Trump will no longer help protect Europe.
But Starmer has several red lines he has said he will not cross, while sticking points remain over some EU demands that threaten to stall the rapprochement.
In an interview with The Times on Saturday, Starmer said a deal would be a “really significant moment”.
EU diplomats in Brussels have been working on getting Britain to keep its waters open for European fishermen in return for easing the checks on some food imports from the UK.
While freedom of movement was a “red line,“ he told The Times, “youth mobility is not freedom of movement”.
Starmer said late Saturday in a statement that on Monday “we take another step forwards, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union”.
“In this time of great uncertainty and volatility, the UK will not respond by turning inwards, but by proudly taking our place on the world stage.”
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