In a joint statement released after the online summit Monday between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and European Union (EU) leaders, they supported plans agreed by the Chief Negotiators to intensify talks in July and work overtime to ratify a deal before the end of 2020.

"This should include, if possible, finding an early understanding on the principles underlying any agreement, said the statement.

The summit followed four rounds of negotiations over the past few months which saw little progress on major stumbling blocks: fisheries, governance arrangements, and the so-called level playing field.