3rd round Brexit talks conclude with no decisive progress

Amid a blaming game between the European Union (EU) and Britain, the third round of Brexit talks concluded Thursday without decisive progress, as expected.

"Over the course of this week we have made a number of useful clarification on a number of points, for instance the status of border workers. However, we did not get any decisive progress on any of the principle subjects,"European Union (EU) chief negotiator Michel Barnier told a joint news conference with Britain's Brexit Secretary David Davis.

Scolding London for demanding the "impossible", Barnier said "protect EU order and Single Market is our top priority in Brexit talks...you cannot simply remain in the single market while shun EU responsibilities."

"If we want the talks to be successful, we have to be as constructive as possible and as less ambiguous as possible," he added.

For his part, Davis told reporters in the joint press briefing with Barnier that the two sides had deep negotiations in this tough week.

"We want EU to be more flexible and the third round Brexit talks could be constructive," said Davis, noting that flexible and imaginative should be the right path of the European Council.

Unlike Barnier's pessimism, Davis believed that the two sides have had long and detailed discussions across multiple areas this week and "I think it is fair to say, that we have seen some concrete progress" especially on citizens' rights.

Both sides have agreed to protect the rights of frontier workers, to cover future social security contributions for those covered by the Withdrawal Agreement and protect existing healthcare rights and arrangements for EU27 citizens in Britain and British nationals in the EU, among others, said Davis.

"And we have had further discussions on the governance of the citizens' rights agreement -- and the wider withdrawal agreement. We have shown a willingness to discuss creative solutions in this area and now is the time for the Commission to match it," he added.

Highly anticipated, the third round Brexit talks kicked off on Monday in EU Commission headquarters. There were three negotiating groups covering citizens' rights, financial settlement and other separation issues. The issues related to Northern Ireland and the governance of the withdrawal agreement were addressed by the Coordinators.