Brief talks on 'mutually beneficial’ relations will look at security and defence, but even modest ambitions will be difficult to agree

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

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 Middle East, China, Ukraine and the return of Donald Trump.