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Berlin - Conflicting reports are being received about German chancellor Angela Merkel's response to Britain leaving the EU.
AP reported that Merkel was quoted as saying that Germany would push for the impact of Brexit on Germans and other European Union citizens living in Britain to be as minimal as possible. She said she wanted Britain and the EU to remain "close partners."
Merkel said during a speech in Berlin that the divorce talks triggered on Wednesday must first focus on undoing in an orderly fashion four decades of ties between Britain and the EU.
She said: "Only when these questions are cleared up can we subsequently - but hopefully soon - talk about our future relationship."
Merkel also says the remaining EU member nations will negotiate with Britain "in a fair and constructive manner."
She says: "I hope that the British government will also approach the talks in this spirit." She added that British Prime Minister Theresa May had assured her it would in a phone conversation on Tuesday.
.MeanwhileAFP has just reported that Merkel rejected May's call for negotiations on the UK's exit from the European Union to run parallel with talks on defining their future relationship.
"The negotiations must first clarify how we will disentangle our interlinked relationship... and only when this question is dealt with, can we, hopefully soon after, begin talking about our future relationship," Merkel said.
