BRUSSELS — Britain will not be threatened into following EU rules in the future by talk of economic rifts and is ready to trade with the bloc on basic international terms if needs be, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Europe adviser said on Monday. Britain left the EU last month and the two sides will now start negotiating a new relationship from trade to security. "We are not frightened by suggestions there will be trade frictions," David Frost told a lecture at a Brussels university. "We are not asking for anything special, we are asking for a simple free trade agreement." Should that not be possible because of the bloc's insistence that Britain aligns itself with EU rules ahead, London was ready to trade with the 27-union according to the same basic international rules as Europe now follows with Australia.

Source: International New York Times February 17, 2020 19:30 UTC